Some have argued the Trump administration's NWS cuts led to a forecast that underestimated the amount of rain in Kerr County, Texas.

Forecasters warn that slow-moving storms could bring heavy downpours to already saturated areas, increasing the risk of flash flooding.

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Congressman Greg Casar and several other Democratic lawmakers have sent letters to U.S. leaders in the aftermath of deadly Central Texas floods, demanding answers about the federal response.

Q: Is it true that if President Donald Trump hadn’t defunded the National Weather Service, the death toll in the Texas flooding would have been far lower or nonexistent? A: The Trump administration did not defund the NWS but did reduce the staff by 600 people.

More than 170 people are still believed to be missing a week after the forceful floodwater hit over the July Fourth weekend.

At a press conference, his first significant public response to the tragedy, held a full week after the flood, Trump refused to address multiple facts implicating his administration and that of his MAGA ally Governor Abbott in the disaster.

For years, employees say, they've had to do more with less. But the ability to fill in the gaps became strained to the breaking point when the Trump administration began pushing new staffing cuts.

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.

In the aftermath of deadly Hill Country flooding, Texas’ junior U.S. Senator is defending the National Weather Service, as questions surface over the agency’s forecast timing, urgency and communication.