Overview

• More than 100 people have been killed and over 160 are still missing after early-July floods swept central Texas and exposed gaps in emergency alerts.
• There was no county-wide siren system to warn residents, and text alerts only reached people who had pre-registered.
• When asked who was to blame, Abbott dismissed the question as “loser” talk and compared the tragedy to being down at halftime of a football game.
• He has tasked the GOP-controlled legislature with leading an inquiry into the flood response, but observers question its impartiality and effectiveness.
• Critics and family members have condemned his football analogy as tone-deaf while many communities continue searching for missing loved ones.