Overview

• Flash floods from the stalled remnants of Tropical Storm Barry inundated the Guadalupe River area over the July 4 weekend, killing at least 59 people, including 21 children, and leaving 12 missing.
• The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. Friday, but local Kerr County officials did not post urgent alerts for several hours.
• The Trump administration says it is upgrading the nation’s flood-notification technology, which officials have called “ancient.”
• Critics and Democratic lawmakers accuse Trump-era job cuts and unfilled leadership vacancies at NOAA and the NWS of hampering forecasting effectiveness and are calling for a congressional investigation.
• Climate scientists warn that warming temperatures are making such intense rainfall events more frequent and severe.