Democrats have questioned the effectiveness of the flash flood warning the weather service sent out on July 4, after floodwaters had already overwhelmed many areas in Kerr County.

Two days before the Guadalupe River rose with terrifying speed and force in Kerr County, Texas, a small team from

The early warnings and alerts from the National Weather Service didn’t indicate a catastrophic flood was on its way.

Unfounded rumors linking an extreme weather event to human attempts at weather modification are again spreading on social media. It is not plausible that available weather modification techniques caused or influenced the July 4 flash flooding along the Guadalupe River in Texas.

Texas leads the country in flood deaths. Steep hills, shallow soils and a fault zone have made Hill Country, also called "flash flood alley," one of the state's most dangerous regions.

The National Weather Service has issued a record number of flood warnings in 2025, with experts attributing the increase in intense and deadly flooding events across the U.S. to climate change and improved technology.

Some governors and mayors are concerned over how current or potential cuts to agencies will impact how the government can respond in the future to major weather events.

Some regions in the mid-Atlantic are also facing risks of flooding. On Sunday, Tropical Storm Chantal flooded parts of North Carolina, where more than 10 inches of rain fell near the Chapel Hill area. The Haw River, near Bynum, North Carolina, crested to nearly 22 feet, the highest crest on record there, as a result of those heavy rains.

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

As climate change increases the frequency of environmental disasters, experts say federal cuts could leave California and other states vulnerable in the years ahead.