Overview

• Search and rescue teams continue operations in Kerr County despite debris and unstable conditions, with about 172 people still unaccounted for.
• State officials confirm at least 119 fatalities from July 4 floods along the Guadalupe River, including around 30 children at a Christian girls’ camp.
• Kerr County twice applied for state grants to install outdoor sirens after a 2016 flood but was denied both times, exposing gaps in local alert infrastructure.
• Congressional leaders have called for an investigation into roughly 600 National Weather Service staff cuts under the Department of Government Efficiency, while the White House maintains that forecasts and warnings were timely and accurate.
• Climometer researchers warn that regional warming trends since 1950 have increased the likelihood of extreme rainfall events like the recent flash flood.