Hacker News

Separate questions have emerged about the preparedness of local communities, including Kerr County’s apparent lack of a local flood warning system. The county, roughly 50 miles northwest of San Antonio, is where many of the deaths occurred. In an interview, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, said the county did not have a warning system because such systems are expensive, and local residents are resistant to new spending. “Taxpayers won’t pay for it,” Mr. Kelly said.

Sounds like they should be blaming themselves, then.

what makes flash floods so hazardous is their ability to strike quickly, with limited warning. Around midnight on Thursday, the [weather offices for the areas that flooded] put out their first flash flood warnings, urging people to “move immediately to higher ground.” The office sent out additional flash flood warnings through the night, expanding the area of danger. It is not clear what steps local officials took to act on those warnings. [...] the local Weather Service offices appeared to have sent out the correct warnings. He said the challenge was getting people to receive those warnings, and then take action.

Again, that sounds like a local issue. What happened to your pride in local government and not needing the feds?

He said that climate change was making extreme rainfall events more frequent and severe, and that more research was needed so that the Weather Service could better forecast those events.

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