Some experts say staff shortages might have complicated forecasters’ ability to coordinate responses with local emergency management officials.

This part of Texas Hill Country is known for flash floods. Why were so many people caught off guard when the river turned violent?

Rachel Maddow highlights reporting in Texas on cuts to the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ahead of the deadly flash flooding. While early indications suggest the cuts did not directly contribute to the disaster,

NWS says Flash Flood Warnings were issued on July 3 and early July 4 in Central Texas, giving more than three hours of warning.

Key positions at National Weather Service offices across Texas are vacant, sowing doubt over the state’s ability to respond to natural disasters as rescuers comb through the flood-ravaged Hill Country.

The White House is defending the National Weather Service and accusing some Democrats of playing politics in the wake of devastating floods in Texas.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut hundreds of jobs as the National Weather Service earlier this year.

"A lot of the weather forecast offices now are not operating at full complement of staff," said the former lead of NOAA.

Emergency alerts gave "preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred," the agency said

More than 100 people have died across six counties after flash flooding from heavy rain began affecting the state last week.