The unimaginable tragedy that occurred on July 4 on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas, which caused more than 100 deaths and almost 200 disappearances, including dozens of children, summons our solidarity and commiseration with the victims and also serves as a lesson about our own vulnerability in times of such climatic instability.
---
Lee este artículo en español.
---
The horror of what happened in the southern state is difficult to capture in all its horror.
People in the surrounding communities, including dozens of girls participating in a Christian summer camp, lay down to sleep peacefully on the night of July 3. During the early morning, downpours of such intensity that 12 inches of rain fell in an area of just ten square miles were reported. The Guadalupe River rose 29 inches in less than three hours.
When the Fourth of July dawned, hundreds were dead or missing, including several members of a Puerto Rican family. At press time, the dead numbered 121 and the missing 173.
The tragedy in Texas occurs in the context of the cuts and layoffs that President Donald Trump’s administration has implemented in federal agencies that deal with climate issues, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), under whose jurisdiction is the National Weather Service (NWS). According to press reports, NOAA lost 20% of its 12,000 employees and the NWS 7% of its 4,000.
Despite this, officials from the affected counties in Texas say that the warnings were issued on time, but with the complication that the event occurred in the early morning, when the vast majority of people were asleep, and in an area where the cellular signal is not particularly strong. It also transpired that a few years ago officials of Kerr County, where the summer camp where dozens of girls died is located, ruled out, due to cost issues, the installation of sirens in the area.
Whether anyone failed to live up to their responsibility, or whether cutbacks are responsible for this enormous tragedy is something that will not be known until all investigations are conducted. Already, however, there are disturbing signs that skimping on resources in such critical areas as climate monitoring can have the worst consequences.
We live in times of climate change, which has altered and will continue to alter what we know as weather phenomena. Sadly, people in key positions in the Trump administration do not believe the science that tells us of all the consequences this has had and will continue to have. In these times, we are seeing and will continue to see atmospheric turmoil like we have never seen before. What happened in Texas is a great example of this.
In this context, it is irresponsible and reckless to skimp on the resources needed to monitor the weather and effectively alert populations when danger threatens. This applies everywhere, but is especially critical in Puerto Rico, where some 735,000 people live in flood zones, according to official data. In February, a tsunami warning was in effect here for a little over an hour, without the official communications operation that would be expected in such cases. This must be addressed.
We urge the governments of the United States and Puerto Rico to understand the magnitude of this problem and to allocate the resources needed to do nothing more and nothing less than protect human life. That, then, is the lesson of the Texas tragedy: no expense or resource is excessive when it comes to monitoring the weather and alerting communities for the sole and lofty purpose of saving lives. What is more valuable than that?
---
This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.
