"Wynn Radford IV, chief of staff for the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6, previously worked as a spokesperson for the multinational oil company BP following the Deepwater Horizon disaster."
"In the past decade, as extreme weather killed nearly 700 people in Texas, the state relinquished $225 million in federal grant money that it was supposed to spend on protecting residents from disasters, federal records show." "States across the country have not used billions of dollars from FEMA intended to reduce damage from flooding and other disasters."
"Kerr County failed to secure a warning system, even as local officials remained aware of the risks and as billions of dollars were available for similar projects."
"A fast-moving wildfire destroyed a historic lodge and dozens of other structures on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, forcing officials to close access to that area for the season, the park said Sunday."
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved appeals from Camp Mystic to exempt several structures from a flood zone designation over a decade before extreme flooding in Central Texas swamped the Christian girls camp and killed 27 campers and counselors, according to FEMA records."
"Two days after catastrophic floods roared through Central Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance line, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times."
"Camp Mystic, the private summer camp that now symbolizes the deadly Central Texas floods, sat on a tract of land known to be at high risk for a devastating flood. Nearly 1.3 million Texas homes are similarly situated in parts of the state susceptible to dangerous floodwaters, according to a state estimate."
"The National Weather Service issued timely alerts, meteorologists say, but few were listening in the hours before the early morning flash floods." "The catastrophic floods that struck central Texas on Friday show that accurate weather forecasts alone aren’t enough to save lives."
"The deadly Texas floods are drawing renewed scrutiny to Trump administration cuts at the nation’s weather and climate research agencies."
"The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend surpassed 100 on Monday as search-and-rescue teams continued to wade into swollen rivers and use heavy equipment to untangle trees as part of the massive search for missing people."
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