As expected, our local “authorities” and political biases have really gotten nasty lately and our elected MAGA Republican politicians, authorities, and law-enforcement here have double-downed and are now doubling-down more on defending their decisions and political policies the last 8-16 months in Kerr County. Much has been revealed in the last 4-days. Responsibility, accountability, and honorable honesty are nowhere to be found or heard from our local and county leaders.

Let’s pickup where I left off previously.

“We Didn’t Want to Cry Wolf”

When the Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice answered press conference questions yesterday July 7th about Why weren’t safety-first evacuation orders made much sooner to those residents at high-risk, his immediate best answer was “…We didn’t want to cry wolf.”

So in other words, according to Dalton Rice, it is much better to weight on the side of silence than it is to weight on the side of too cautious. We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. We don’t want to be perceived as worry-warts. But we are not dealing with alive victims Mr. Rice! We are now confronted with a death toll over 111 persons with over 160 people/bodies still missing! When extreme weather events threaten untold lives, you and your political colleagues chose to lean on the side of silence, or snail’s pace wait-and-see, rather than taking no chances with the loss of life. Wow. Just wow. What an idiotic, stupid mentality in this case and thing to say to the public you are supposed to serve and protect! 😡

By the way, my Mom and I were frequently asking on July 4th-5th Where is Senator Ted Cruz? Cruz’s M.O. is always quick to go anywhere to get on camera in the national limelight. Where is he? It took him more than 3-days to show up. Hah! No surprise there. He was likely on vacation down in Cabo, Mexico or some highly luxurious resort somewhere. That’s what he has always done in times of grave crisis. He did the same thing during COVID-19.😒

Back to sociopolitical events in Texas leading up to July 4th, 2025.

Lies Half-Truths About Texas’ NWS Staffing & Cuts

As expected, the MAGA Republican authorities and politicians involved with Texas’ National Weather Service, a public safety agency and protection for ordinary Texans, has in fact been slashed and cut since January 2025 after the results of elections in the fall of 2024. Former federal officials and outside experts have warned for months that President Donald Trump’s deep staffing cuts to the National Weather Service could endanger lives. And Texas politicians such as Gov. Gregg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and all of Trump’s butt-kissers here in the state (always in fear of retribution) follow suit with whatever Trump wants. Hence, significant cuts and slashing have taken place here in Texas for several years due to Trump sycophants and Trump loyalists.

The NWS office responsible for this region had just five staffers on duty as thunderstorms formed over Texas late Wednesday and Thursday evening, the usual number for an overnight shift when severe weather is expected. Current and former NWS officials defended the agency, pointing to urgent flash flood warnings issued in the pre-dawn hours before the river rose. I received on my cell phone over 45 severe flood warning alerts starting at about 2:00am July 4th.

The Trump administration has cut hundreds of jobs at NWS since going back into office, with staffing down by at least 20% at nearly half of the 122 NWS field offices nationally and at least a half dozen no longer staffed 24 hours a day. Hundreds more experienced forecasters and senior managers were encouraged to retire early.

The White House also has proposed slashing its parent agency’s budget by 27% and eliminating federal research centers focused on studying the world’s weather, climate and oceans. Texas immediately, if not beforehand, followed suit quickly.

The website for the NWS office for Austin/San Antonio, which covers the region that includes hard-hit Kerr County, shows six of 27 positions are listed as vacant. The vacancies include a key manager responsible for issuing warnings and coordinating with local emergency management officials. An online resume for the employee who last held the job showed he left in April after more than 17 years, shortly after mass emails sent to employees urging them to retire early or face potential layoffs.

Trump has continual blown-off anyone’s investigative inquiries into the mass cuts calling them attacking and belligerent. Meanwhile, the cuts WILL cause the NWS system to break.

It should also be widely known that Trump and his sycophants in Texas have been under a hiring freeze for adequate staffing needs. If nothing else these cuts and gutting of the NWS will greatly complicate the effectiveness of critical flood warnings and Code Red evacuations for this area of Texas. Period, especially for law-enforcement like county sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, DPS officers, and Texas Parks & Wildlife agents to go door-to-door knocking during life threatening events.

In the end, public safety programs, staffing, and protections have too often NOT been an ultra-Conservative Republican top priority, much less a MAGA Republican priority, over many years merely because they wrongly think it is all too costly. And yet, when actual human lives have been needlessly lost, they double-down in their defense of their decisions, legislation, and policies to save face and lie. Then come their diversion tactics to deflect scrutiny.

Events During July 2-5, 2025

Now, let’s look closely at the timeline of events beginning July 2nd, 2025. This is from the NPR website on the timeline:

Wednesday, July 2nd:
The Texas Division of Emergency Management announced that it was activating state emergency response resources because of the threat of flooding.

At 3:41 p.m. Central Time on July 2nd, early hints of severe weather came in a post on X (Twitter) by the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio that said: “scattered moderate to heavy showers continue to develop and expand to the Hill Country.”

Thursday, July 3rd:
At 8:47 a.m. Texas Division of Emergency Management posted on X weather guidance in both English and Spanish, informing followers about what to do in a flood, adding: “As we head into the holiday weekend and the flood threat in West & Central TX continues, stay weather aware!”

At some point in the morning, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick later said at a press conference, the TDEM Region 6 Assistance Chief had “personally contacted the judges and mayors in that area and notified them all of potential flooding.” He said it was unclear exactly where in the region the storm would hit.

“The message was sent,” Patrick said, “It is up to the local counties and mayors under the law to evacuate, if they feel a need. That information was passed along.” This is a vague reply and unverified.

At 1:18 p.m., the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio issued a flood watch, saying “local heavy rainfall could cause flash flooding.” At 2:35 p.m. the flood watch was announced on X, saying “pockets of heavy rain are expected and may result in flooding.” A flood watch is used when the weather conditions make a flood possible but it does not mean a flood will occur.

At this point I feel vehemently obligated to remind my readers that these are answers, excuses for the fact that MAGA Republican ideology here in rural Texas is anti-Public Safety. Why? Because they do not believe that “public safety” is adequately or appropriately utilized and costs far too much tax-payer dollars. That lame reasoning is not thoroughly examined here either. Please keep this in mind.

At 6:10 p.m., Thursday, the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center issued an assessment for Texas Hill Country about “heavy rainfall,” mentioning “flash flooding likely.”

At 11:41 p.m., the National Weather Service office in Austin/San Antonio posted a flash flood warning.

At 11:42 p.m., the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio posted on X upgrading its flood watch to a flood warning for part of the impacted area. In a post from 1:14 a.m. on Friday, that area was expanded. A flood warning occurs when flooding is imminent or already happening.

Friday, July 4th:
At 12:26 a.m., the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said “flash flooding likely overnight with significant impacts possible.” This message was posted on X a minute later.

The National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio followed up its warning from 11:41 p.m. Thursday with another flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. Friday. Another 14 flash flood warnings, which are posted on the NWS website and elsewhere, would come between then and 10:46 a.m.

At 3:06 a.m. the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio posted on X: “A very dangerous flash flooding event is ongoing.” It ended: “Turn Around, Don’t Drown!“

Around 3:30 a.m. the Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said he was out for an early morning jog along the Guadalupe River and saw “not a drop of rain,” according to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who recounted his conversation with the city manager. Rice added that he left around 4 a.m. when “there was very light rain…We did not see any signs of the river rising at that time.“

These two men were being total idiots at that time! Obviously they know nothing about weather and flash flooding in this part of Texas.

Then, at 4:15 a.m. the National Weather Service San Angelo posted on X that there was a flash flood emergency. The Austin/San Antonio office posted on its X account about the emergency at 4:23 a.m. This type of alert is “exceedingly rare” and used when there is a “severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage,” according to the National Weather Service.

Between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., the Guadalupe River surged, with water levels rapidly rising as much as 30 feet, according to Rep. Roy. Local TV footage showed the empty foundations of houses, where everything else had been swept away.

This above confirms the utter stupidity of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice. Period.

Kerrville City Manager Rice said he started getting calls around 5 a.m. about the flooding. He said upstream of the city two branches converge into the Guadalupe River and that both forks had received more rain than expected. “It was about seven feet or so on the south fork, and within a matter of minutes, it was up to 29 feet,” Rice recounted later on Friday. (backtracking, backpedaling) 😡

After the 1987 flood, alarms were installed along the river. However, Rice said that he believes those are south of Kerrville. “There [are] not alarms everywhere on the river,” he said.

He added that it is a very hard decision when to issue evacuation orders. “There’s a balance between do you evacuate and put chaos on the road and potentially risk people getting stuck on a road? This is hill country…There’s a lot of low water crossings,” he said. “A lot of our operations plans — especially with these camps, that is — the plan is sometimes shelter in place to get them to those known high grounds and then wait for rescue.“

At 5:16 a.m., the City of Kerrville’s Police Department posted on its Facebook page its first warning about the weather, noting that it’s a “life threatening event” and “anyone near the Guadalupe River needs to move to higher ground now.” Kerr County Sheriff posted on its Facebook page for the first time about the flooding at 5:32 a.m.

At 6:22 a.m., the City Hall of Kerrville posted on Facebook: “Much needed rain swept through Kerrville overnight, but the downside is the severe weather may impact many of today’s scheduled July 4th events. Citizens are encouraged to exercise caution when driving and avoid low water crossings. Kerrville Police and Fire Department personnel are currently assessing emergency needs.” At 6:33 a.m. it posted about road closures due to flooding. At 7:32 a.m. it posted: “If you live along the Guadalupe River, please move to higher ground immediately.“

Kidd — the Texas Emergency Management Chief — said the boats and other equipment that was pre-positioned started responding immediately, although he did not specify at what time. “Those were put immediately into use as soon as the rain fell and the 911 calls started coming in. They were already here,” he said.

Speaking on Friday, Lt. Gov. Patrick said there were 14 helicopters, 12 drones, nine rescue teams as well as “swimmers in the water rescuing adults and children out of trees.” He said there were 400 to 500 people on the ground helping with the rescue effort.

Search and rescue operations continued through the night, according to Kerrville City Manager Rice, who said the teams were relying a lot on helicopters and using specialized equipment that detect heat sources to help find stranded people.

Again, at this point I feel vehemently obligated to remind my readers that these are answers, excuses for the fact that MAGA Republican ideology here in rural Texas is anti-Public Safety. Why? Because they do not believe that “public safety” is adequately or appropriately utilized and costs far too much tax-payer dollars. That lame reasoning is not thoroughly examined here either. Please keep this in mind.

Saturday, July 5th:
At around 8 a.m. on Saturday, Rice said “boots on the ground operations” were able to begin. The teams started southwest of Hunt, Texas — southwest of Camp Mystic — and “these folks will be traveling very difficult terrain … and we’re going to start getting information,” he said at a press conference on Saturday morning.

Officials said more than 1,000 local, state and federal personnel were on the ground helping with the rescue operation.

On Saturday afternoon, Gov. Greg Abbott said one word has been used more than any during this natural disaster: Prayer. “All we know is that prayer does work,” he said. 😂🤣😂🤣

Right, tell that to the 8-year old, 9-year old, 10-year old, and 11-year old girls of Camp Mystic who prayed before going to bed late Thursday night, July 3rd. Tell that to their parents and their families. Pffft, whatever you moron. 😠😒🤦‍♂️ Have you gone to those parents’ home who lost their little girls to “pray with them?” No, you have not and you will not. Just shut up and close your mouth Mr. Abbott.

I hope to finish Part III very soon. Thanks for your patience; stay tuned.

Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always

The Professor’s Convatorium © 2023 by Professor Taboo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0