Three House Democrats sent a letter to President Trump and two officials involved in weather infrastructure Friday expressing concerns about the government’s preparedness for future flood disasters and extreme weather events.
“This tragedy echoes a troubling national pattern of accelerating flash flood disasters that have claimed lives: 46 lives in the greater New York City area in September 2021, 345 lives in Kentucky in July 2022, 20 lives in Tennessee in August 2021, and 250 lives across the Southeast in September 2024,” Democratic Reps. Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) and Eric Sorensen (Ill.) wrote.
“These events are not anomalies—they are harbingers of a climate-disrupted future,” they added.
Doggett represents a district centered around Austin, a couple of hours from Kerr County, the epicenter of the floods. Sorensen is a meteorologist.
The lawmakers expressed concern about whether the Department of Government Efficiency-driven staff reductions at the National Weather Service delayed warnings about the Texas floods, which have claimed at least 120 lives. The New York Times reported the vacancies may have complicated efforts to coordinate with local officials and that some of the unfilled positions predate the Trump administration.
The letter was addressed to Trump alongside Army Corps of Engineers Gen. William Graham Jr. and acting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Laura Grimm.
The lawmakers also asked NOAA and the Army Corps of Engineers to detail how they planned to adapt federal weather services to what they called “the growing frequency of extreme precipitation events attributable to climate change.”
The joint message follows another letter from Doggett on Tuesday asking NOAA about the impact of staffing shortages.
Trump visited Texas on Friday to assess damage from the flooding. At least 160 people remain missing.
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