White House pushes back on criticism of weather service around Texas flooding
The White House and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz defended the National Weather Service and accused some Democrats of playing politics in the wake of devastating floods in Texas.
"I think this is not a time for partisan finger-pointing and attacks," Cruz said at a news conference with local officials in Kerr County on Monday morning.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later began her briefing on the offensive, calling out those who've questioned whether federal cuts to the NWS impacted staffing levels or forecasting abilities as the tragedy unfolded.
"Unfortunately, in the wake of this once in a generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Senator Chuck Schumer and some members of the media," Leavitt said. "Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning."
Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, on Monday called for an investigation into whether cuts made to NWS in the administration had any correlation to the level of devastation.
"Following the disastrous and deeply devastating flash flooding in Texas this weekend, I write to urge you to immediately to open an investigation into the scope, breadth, and ramifications of whether staffing shortages at key local National Weather Service (NWS) stations contributed to the catastrophic loss of life and property during the deadly flooding," Schumer wrote in a letter sent to Commerce Department Acting Inspector General Roderick Anderson.
Officials said at least 104 people, including more than two dozen children, are dead after heavy rain led to flash flooding in Texas.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told ABC News that NWS planned for extra staffing at the NWS Austin/San Antonio local office ahead of the event. The local office had five NWS employees working compared to the two that would normally be scheduled.
In a statement to ABC News, the NWS highlighted that they gave briefings to emergency management the day before the tragic event and mentioned some alert lead times.
“The National Weather Service is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County. On July 3, the NWS office in Austin/San Antonio, TX conducted forecast briefings for emergency management in the morning and issued a Flood Watch in the early afternoon. Flash Flood Warnings were issued on the night of July 3 and in the early morning of July 4, giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before warning criteria were met. The National Weather Service remains committed to our mission to serve the American public through our forecasts and decision support services," the NWS said.
Leavitt, from the podium on Monday, ran through the specific timeline of alerts sent by the NWS and emphasized the extra staff in place at the NWS Austin/San Antonio office.
She noted the office issued a flood watch at 1:18 p.m. on Thursday, July 3. Then, a flash flood warning was issued for Bandera and Kerr counties at 1:14 a.m. on Friday, July 4 that was upgraded with more serious warnings at 3:35 a.m..
"So, to any person who has deliberately lied about these facts surrounding this catastrophic event, you should be deeply ashamed," she said.
Leavitt was asked on Monday why the warnings were sent at a time when people were likely asleep and what, if anything, the administration is doing to ensure that these alerts come out sooner in the future.
"This was an act of God, it is not the administration's fault that the flood hit when it did but there were early and consistent warnings," Leavitt said. "And again, the National Weather Service did its job."
Cruz, at the local news conference in Texas, pushed back on NWS claims but said there would be a "period of retrospection" after the immediate recovery efforts to analyze what happened and what went wrong.
"In the wake of every tragedy, there are things that are predictable," Cruz said. "One of the things that's predictable is to see some people engaging in, I think, partisan games, and trying to blame their political opponents for a natural disaster. And you see that with a hurricane, with a tornado, with a wildfire, with this flooding, where people immediately say, 'Well, the hurricane is Donald Trump's fault.' I think most normal Americans know that's ridiculous, and I think this is not a time for partisan finger pointing and attacks."
"Now, after we come through search and rescue, after we come through the process of rebuilding, there will naturally be a period of retrospection where you look back and say, 'Okay, what exactly transpired, what was the timeline, and what could have been done differently to prevent this loss of life?' And that's a natural process," Cruz added. "I think it should not happen in a bitter and partisan sense, but it should happen in a reasonable sense of saying, what lessons can we learn?"
President Trump is still planning on visiting Texas on Friday, the White House said, though plans are not yet finalized.
Trump was asked on Sunday if he was going to investigate whether cuts at NWS left key positions vacant.
"No, no. They didn't," Trump said.
Trump then tried to pin blame on former President Joe Biden, his Oval Office predecessor, before walking the comment back.
"I'll tell you: If you look at that -- what a situation that all is. That was really the Biden setup. That was not our setup. But I wouldn't blame Biden for it either. I would just say this is a hundred-year catastrophe, and it's just so horrible to watch," Trump said.
ABC News' Mariam Khan and Matthew Glasser contributed to this report.
