129 Dead in Texas Floods. MAGA Politics Are to Blame.
Kerr County rejected federal flood warning funds because they came from Biden. Now 129 people are dead in a preventable disaster.
Over 120 people died in Texas flash flooding. At least 36 of them were children. The Guadalupe River rose 32 feet in 45 minutes on July 4th, destroying summer camps, RV parks, and entire communities, in what was an entirely preventable tragedy.
Local officials knew something like this would happen and they had the money to stop it, but they chose partisan politics over human lives.
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County Officials Rejected Federal Funding for Flood Warning System
For nearly a decade, Kerr County officials discussed installing a $1 million flood warning system along the Guadalupe River. They knew the area was flood-prone. A 2024 report to FEMA predicted that the county would "likely experience a flood event in the next year" that could result in "increased damage, injuries, or loss of life."
They had multiple chances to fund it. The state denied their grant applications in 2017 and 2018, citing bureaucratic reasons and prioritizing Hurricane Harvey recovery, but in 2021, the Biden administration handed Kerr County a $10.2 million windfall through the American Rescue Plan Act. The money could have been used for storm-related infrastructure, including the exact warning system they needed.
Instead, county commissioners allowed political pressure to override their responsibility to protect residents. At public meetings, some constituents voiced strong opposition to accepting federal money from the Biden administration. One resident called it funding from "the most criminal treasonous communist government ever to hold the White House." Another declared, "We don't want to be bought by the federal government." 42% of surveyed residents wanted to reject the entire $10 million grant rather than accept "Biden money."
But elected officials are sworn to promote the general welfare and safety of all their constituents, not just the loudest voices in the room. They chose to listen to partisan opposition rather than fulfill their basic duty of governance, and instead spent $8 million on sheriff's department upgrades and employee raises.
MAGA Ideology Over Public Safety
This is ideological extremism so pure that it rejects life-saving infrastructure because it came from the wrong political party. When your hatred of the federal government runs so deep that you'd rather watch children drown than accept help from a Democratic president, you've crossed into death cult territory.
The pattern is everywhere. MAGA governors reject Medicaid expansion that would save lives because it's "Obamacare." Red states refuse federal money for green energy projects that would create jobs and fight climate change. Trump supporters literally drank bleach because their leader suggested it might cure COVID.
Now Trump is back, and he's taking a chainsaw to the very agencies that could prevent future tragedies. His "Department of Government Efficiency" has already gutted the National Weather Service, forcing early retirements and leaving critical positions unfilled. The official in charge of "warning coordination" and getting weather forecasts to local emergency managers took a DOGE buyout and wasn't replaced before the Texas floods hit.
FEMA, which Trump has repeatedly threatened to eliminate, couldn't even answer phone calls from flood survivors. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fired hundreds of call center contractors on July 5th, right as the floods were starting. The agency answered only 35.8% of calls on July 6th and 15.9% on July 7th.
This is the "lean government" that MAGA voters demanded. This is what happens when you elect people who fundamentally believe government doesn't work and then spend four years proving it.
Historical Pattern of Politics Over Public Safety
American history is littered with preventable disasters caused by ideological blindness. In 1927, the Great Mississippi Flood killed over 400 people partly because local officials refused federal help, fearing it would undermine states' rights. During the 1918 flu pandemic, cities that rejected mask mandates and public health measures saw death rates soar while their leaders proclaimed they were defending "freedom."
The justification is always the same, that abstract political principles matter more than human lives. The difference now is that one of our major political parties has made this nihilism its core identity. They celebrate the rejection, campaign on it, and fundraise off it.
Current Response and Ongoing Risk
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick now acknowledges "there should have been sirens here" and promises the state will fund a warning system. The commitment comes after the deaths of 129 flood victims.
Gov. Greg Abbott called questions about accountability "the word choice of losers" and insisted on focusing on "solutions." But accountability delayed is accountability denied. If we don't connect these dots now and name the ideology that killed these people, it will happen again.
The residents of Kerr County died in a preventable disaster.
129 people died because MAGA ideology prioritizes political opposition over government assistance that saves lives.
And it will happen again.
But here's the terrifying reality: stories like Kerr County are being systematically buried and forgotten.
Mainstream media has already moved on from Kerr County. In six months, those 129 deaths will be a footnote. In a year, they'll be completely forgotten, just another "natural disaster" with no mention of the preventable human choices that caused it.
As you read this, climate scientists are being silenced. Weather service positions are going unfilled. The very agencies that could prevent the next 129 deaths are being further gutted by the same ideology that killed those Texas flood victims, and corporate media refuses to connect these dots.
The reality is stark: we need independent journalists documenting this ideological extremism before these stories disappear completely.
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🚨 At 5% paid subscribers: I could investigate which other counties are rejecting federal disaster funds and track the next preventable tragedy before it happens.
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References
Joselow, Maxine. "FEMA Didn't Answer Thousands of Calls From Flood Survivors, Documents Show." The New York Times, July 11, 2025.
Sanchez, Ray and Rebekah Riess. "What happened in the hours before, during and after a catastrophic deluge hit Texas Hill Country." CNN, July 12, 2025.
Roeloffs, Mary Whitfill. "Texas Flooding Tragedy: State And Local Officials—And Partisan Politics—Face Blame For No Alarm Systems." Forbes, July 11, 2025.
Langford, Terri and Dan Keemahill. "Did fiscal conservatism block plans for a new flood warning system in Kerr County?" The Texas Tribune, July 10, 2025.
Mack, M.B. "Flooded Texas County Turned Down Funds for Warning System From Biden Admin in 2021: 'We Don't Want to Be Bought'." Latin Times, July 11, 2025.
Flavelle, Christopher, J. David Goodman and Andrea Fuller. "Before Tragedy, Texas Repeatedly Rejected Pleas for Flood Alarm Funding." The New York Times, July 10, 2025.
Krugman, Paul. "Should We Politicize the Texas Flood? Absolutely." Paul Krugman Substack, July 10, 2025.
I don't understand. They were offered $10 million they could have spent on this and loudmouths said they didn't want "Biden money" -- but then they did take $8 million and spent it on the sheriff's department even though it was "Biden money."
So since they did take money, that sounds like they were willing to take the money, but just prioritized their sheriff's department instead of potential flood victims.
Your reporting and analyses are excellent, Kahlil. And you cite sources. Who else does that? Bravo.