As Texas deals with the fallout of severe flash flooding in the central part of the state, Rep. Joaquin Castro told CNN the focus should first be on rescue operations, and then on whether political dynamics contributed to the crisis.
Heavy rains engulfed much of the state’s “Flash Flood Alley” on Friday, killing at least 51 people. Twenty-seven girls from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp that sits near Texas’s Guadalupe River, were still missing as of Sunday morning.
“I think obviously the priority is on making sure that those girls are found and are saved. And anybody else who may be missing at this point,” Castro, a Democrat, told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday on “State of the Union.” “And then I think after that we have to figure out in the future how we make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited affected areas in Texas on Saturday. She faulted the National Weather Service’s “ancient system” in not properly alerting endangered communities and said that the White House “is currently upgrading the technology.”
But critics have said President Donald Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce, which included employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, could have played a role in the response to the Texas floods. The cuts, which have left vacant posts in local offices around the country, are fueling concern that communities on the ground level are now less prepared to handle dangerous weather events.
“That’s why there’s an incredible value to the National Weather Service, is because on most days, obviously, you’re not going to have a tragedy like this,” Castro told Bash. “But when you have flash flooding, you know, there is a risk that you won’t have the personnel to make that, do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way, and it could lead to tragedy. So I don’t want to sit here and say conclusively that that was the case. But I do think that it should be investigated.”
In the meantime, more rain on the forecast could further complicate rescue efforts.
“It does make it tougher if that water starts to rise again,” Castro said. “But I know that there are hundreds and hundreds of folks out there who are searching and hopefully their efforts will bear fruit.”