Editorials & Other Articles

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(126,060 posts) Mon Jul 7, 2025, 02:25 PM Jul 7

Better emergency preparedness likely could have saved the people who died in the July 4th Texas Hill Country flash flood

At least eighty people are now known to have perished after a powerful rain bomb descended on the Texas Hill Country on Friday ahead of daybreak on Independence Day, turning the waters of the Guadalupe River into something of a raging inland tsunami that struck fast and with great ferocity.

Camp Mystic, a well-known summer camp for girls, is perhaps the best-known casualty of the disaster. “[A]t least five campers aged 8–9 died, alongside a dozen that remain missing,” the disaster’s Wikipedia entry currently notes. “The camp’s director / co-owner also died, reportedly while trying to save campers from floodwaters.”

Many people known to have been in the path of the floodwaters remain unaccounted for, and the death toll is likely to rise. Though search and rescue efforts remain underway, media outlets are starting to tackle a question that’s probably on a lot of folks’ minds — a question that often gets asked in the aftermath of a tragedy like this: Could these deaths have been prevented? Here, the answer appears to be a resounding Yes!

Let’s consider the basic facts of the matter:

The Texas Hill Country is an area of the United States that is prone to flash floods.
The climate crisis is making extreme weather more frequent and more intense, including rain bombs, which are also known as rain pumps.
Meteorologists, including at the NWS, had issued forecasts warning of the potential for flash flooding before the Guadalupe River began to rapidly swell.
Tragedies similar to this have happened before in the Texas Hill Country. For example, in 1987, ten children were killed when the Guadalupe River inundated the bridge their stalled church camp evacuation bus was trying to cross. Some escaped the floodwaters, but some did not. Sound familiar?

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2025/07/better-emergency-preparedness-likely-could-have-saved-the-people-who-died-in-the-july-4th-texas-hill-country-flash-floods.html

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Better emergency preparedness likely could have saved the people who died in the July 4th Texas Hill Country flash flood (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Jul 7 OP

Excellent article. Thanks for the link Raven123 Jul 7 #1

From more than a half century of living in Tornado Alley markodochartaigh Jul 7 #2

Raven123

(6,867 posts)

1. Excellent article. Thanks for the link

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2025, 02:38 PM

Jul 7

markodochartaigh

(3,368 posts)

2. From more than a half century of living in Tornado Alley

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2025, 04:02 PM

Jul 7

I have always known that when storms season is on you should follow the weather, whether the storms are tornadoes, floods, snow, wind, duststorms, hurricanes, or simple heat.
I think (I know) that a lot of people have moved to Texas from areas with less severe weather. Also kids today (those under 50) are much less connected to the natural world than we were a half century ago.
But people need to know the threats possible in the area that they are in and observe the weather closely. This is especially important in areas where the government doesn't really care about the masses. Regardless of what officials say after an incident, if they didn’t take every precaution, then they don't really care. Most officials aren't as honest as Mayor Boyd.
"Tim Boyd, the mayor of Colorado City, took to Facebook in anger at people 'crying and looking for a handout'".

"Sink or swim it's your choice," he raged. "The city and country... or any other service, owes you nothing.'"

It is very ironic. It is so easy today, even out in the country internet is often available and radar and weather forecasts are far ahead of a decade ago. And a search will turn up any previous disasters in an area.
The more you learn about history though, the more you see parallels. My Grandmother's family was in Galveston during the 1900 hurricane. There was almost no warning to the public at the time. But now we can read how hurricane warnings from the meteorological observatory in Havana were blocked by US officials. I wonder if the 6,000+ who were killed in Galveston should be considered the last casualties of the Spanish American War.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56100743

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