Camp Mystic Flood

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Kristi Noem’s appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this Sunday was a textbook example of how to dismantle media bias with poise and facts. Faced with a predictably hostile Kristen Welker, Noem didn’t just hold her ground—she flipped the script. In a setting designed to put Trump administration officials on the defensive, Noem calmly exposed the hollowness of NBC’s narrative and reminded viewers what real leadership looks like under pressure.

The interview focused on the Trump administration’s rapid response to the devastating Texas floods and recent high-profile immigration enforcement actions. True to form, NBC leaned on anonymous sources to push a tired smear—this time suggesting Noem had personally delayed FEMA aid by requiring her approval for contracts over $100,000. But Noem dismantled that narrative without breaking a sweat.

“Those claims are absolutely false,” she said. “Within just an hour or two after the flooding, we had resources from Homeland Security on the ground. The Coast Guard was deployed immediately and rescued countless Texans. Border Patrol tactical teams were there. FEMA arrived within hours. Call centers were fully staffed. This was the fastest FEMA deployment in years—maybe decades.”

“Within just an hour or two after the flooding, we had resources from @DHSgov there helping those individuals in Texas,” says @Sec_Noem.

“This is the fastest, I believe, in years, maybe decades, that FEMA has been deployed to help individuals in this type of a situation.” pic.twitter.com/H97L2QdzRW

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 13, 2025

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One year ago Sunday, presidential candidate Donald Trump turned his head to point to a graphic at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Milliseconds later, gunshots — or, if you’re MSNBC, “popping noises” — rang out. Trump recoiled and was immediately buried by a pile of Secret Service agents.

For 59 seconds, Americans watching the livestreamed rally wondered if the former president was hurt or even alive. Screams from rallygoers punctuated the televised audio feed; as we would later learn, three attendees had been shot. A beloved wife and daughter were realizing that Corey Comperatore, a firefighter from Buffalo Township, had been fatally shot while shielding them from the gunfire.

You know what happened next. Despite the best efforts of the Secret Service, Trump stood up and pumped his fist, shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” It was immediately clear the image of the bloodied, defiant president would be the single most iconic moment of his political career.

Within hours, Trump would arrive at the Republican National Convention, where his announcement of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate would cement the tone of the third Trump campaign. This was no compromising choice designed to appease the old guard of the Republican Party; Trump was all in.

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Propaganda and psychological manipulation to push more government control always depend upon how people react without reason as crisis events are presented devoid of historic context. Most people’s historic perspective begins when they were born, so recent events loom large in their memories as things never being worse. While past events are unknown, they aren’t perceived as significant or softened by time. This explains why this works with younger people and less and less those with the wisdom of age — those who have seen it all before.

Thus, when the national socialist media reports on what are regularly occurring weather events, or crime, fear is instilled, and people ripe for leftist authoritarian manipulation call for even more government control.

Just a little historical perspective of the hype of past weather events easily destroys this almost subliminal manipulation, because the fear of global cooling, global warming, or climate change is built upon ignorance of the past. So, we’re going to counteract the effect with a little bit of research of the recent past — the last 100 years or so — and report on the way these were headlined back then, see if these sound vaguely familiar.

Since it’s summer and the weather gets seasonally hot this time of year, you can be sure to see sensational, front page headlines designed for an emotional response such as the following from the New York Times:

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This week, Townhall covered how a pediatrician was fired after she posted a comment on social media claiming that supporters of President Donald Trump who died in the Texas floods got “what they voted for.”

Dr. Christina B. Propst, a Houston-based doctor, wrote on Facebook, “May all visitors, children, non-MAGA voters and pets be safe and dry.”

“Kerr County MAGA voted to gut FEMA. They deny climate change. May they get what they voted for. Bless their hearts,” she added.

To be clear: this is a doctor who works with children. There are many children who died in these floods after they were swept away in their cabins at a Christian summer camp. Many others are unaccounted for.

Hi @BlueFishMD , any comment??? https://t.co/e8KZc8YF3H

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 6, 2025

Now, Propst said she is taking “full responsibility” for what she said. Sort of.

In a statement shared by KPRC, Propst claimed that she made the comment “before we knew that so many precious lives were lost to the terrible tragedy in Central Texas.”

“I understand my comment caused immense pain to those suffering indescribable grief and for that I am truly sorry. I would like to make clear that my regrettable comment was in no way a response to the tragic loss of human life. But the words written were mine and regardless of how they are being presented, that is a fact that I deeply regret,” she continued, before attacking how her comment was construed.

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1. An Army of Searchers Combs the Banks of the Guadalupe for the Missing  The New York Times
2. Trinity OC’s 8-year-old daughter dies in TX floods  ESPN
3. Texas flooding live updates: Death toll at 129 as search continues for the missing  ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News and Videos
4. How the deadly Texas floods unfolded, devastating Kerrville and Camp Mystic  NBC News
5. Did fiscal conservatism block plans for a new flood warning system in Kerr County?  The Texas Tribune

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Texas Hill Country was back under a flood watch on Saturday, with the National Weather Service warning of “locally heavy rainfall” of 1-3in with isolated amounts close to 6in possible.

The flood watch, which continues through Sunday evening, comes as the death toll from the 4 July flood continues to rise – now at nearly 130 people – and authorities continue their search for the 160 more who are missing.

The latest warnings anticipate considerably less rain than what came down last week, which caused the Guadalupe River to rise 29ft in 45 minutes.

The Texas division of emergency management had mobilized before the storm, but its assets were not focused exclusively on Texas Hill Country. The storm alerts that were issued before and during the storm, in an area of patchy cellphone service, are now the subject of scrutiny.

On Saturday, the Associated Press reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from its 100-year flood map, loosening oversight as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous floodplain in the years before rushing waters swept away children and counselors.

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Officials in Texas are facing questions about whether they did enough to get people out of harm’s way before a flash flood swept down the Guadalupe River and killed at least 120 people, including more than two dozen children and counselors at an all-girls Christian camp.

More than 170 people are still believed to be missing, a week after the forceful floodwater hit over the July Fourth weekend. In the days since the devastation, state, federal and Kerr County officials have deflected pointed questions about preparations and warnings. Many remain unanswered.

The Associated Press has assembled an approximate timeline of the events before, during and after the deadly flash flood from sources including state and local documents, social media posts, firsthand accounts and scanner traffic archived on Broadcastify. It begins with the activation of the state’s emergency response resources on July 2, the day Texas signed off on the camp’s emergency disaster plan.

By daybreak on July Fourth, it was clear that some children from Camp Mystic had been swept away by floodwaters, even as others were able to escape to safety in their pajamas.

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A Texas father reportedly punched out a window to save his family during the recent flash floods, but in the process he severed an artery in his arm and ended up dying a hero’s death.

Julian Ryan was at his home along the Guadalupe River with his fiancée, Christina Wilson, and their children during the early hours of July 4, when “trees were thrown like toothpicks, and water quickly rose, leaving families with little time to comprehend what was happening,” KHOU reported.

As the water level quickly rose, 27-year-old Ryan’s quick thinking and leadership saved the lives of his family, and his mother as well.

Wilson said that within 20 minutes, the water level was up to their knees in the house.

“It just started pouring in, and we had to fight the door to get it closed to make sure not too much got in,” Ryan’s fiancée explained. “We went back to the room and started calling 911.”

Ryan finally made the difficult decision to punch out the window in an effort to get everyone to safety.

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised the rapid response of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security to the Texas flash floods on both NBC News and Fox News Sunday morning.

Noem defended the speed at which her department deployed resources, despite claims that it took longer to send them due to her new policy requiring all FEMA contracts and grants above $100,000 be approved by her.

“Within just an hour or two after the flooding, we had resources from the Department of Homeland Security there helping those individuals in Texas,” Noem told Kristen Welker, host of “Meet the Press.”

According to Noem, the policy is widely used throughout the DHS “for accountability purposes.”

“I want that accountability in place because it’s the taxpayer dollars, and we need to know that when those dollars are going out to help communities, it’s actually getting there,” Noem said.

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The search for more than 160 people still missing after last week’s catastrophic floods in Texas has been complicated by more rainfall.

Flash flood warnings were in place in central Texas on Sunday after the rapid rise of the Lampasas River, as first responders searched along the Guadalupe River in the state’s Hill Country for the remaining victims of the 100-year Fourth of July holiday weekend weather event that has killed at least 129 people.

Local officials in Kerrville, an area hit hard by last week’s floods, went door to door shortly after midnight on Sunday to warn residents about the risks, in addition to pushing alerts to their phones, amid criticism for the lack of warnings that were delivered last week.

Search-and-rescue efforts were expected to continue on Monday, depending on conditions, Ingram Fire Department spokesman Brian Lochte told the Associated Press.

“We’re working with a few crews and airboats and SAR (search-and-rescue) boats just in case,” Lochte said.

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Geographers have finally figured out why some rivers form single channels, while others divide into many interwoven threads. Their findings, published in the journal Science, could transform flood planning and river restoration efforts.

“The question of what causes a river to be single-threaded or multi-threaded is pretty much as old as the field of geomorphology,” says Associate Professor Vamsi Ganti, senior author of the study at the University of California Santa Barbara.

“We found that rivers will develop multiple channels if they erode their banks faster than they deposit sediment on their opposing banks,” adds lead author Dr Austin Chadwick. “This causes a channel to widen and divide over time.”

Ganti, Chadwick and co-author Dr Evan Greenberg tracked the erosion and deposition that occurred on the banks of 84 rivers around the world. They analysed 36 years (1985–2021) of global satellite imagery with an image-processing algorithm.

The algorithm, which was originally designed to track particle motion in laboratory photos of fluid, was adapted to track channel position in floodplains.

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President Donald Trump defended the state and federal response to deadly flash flooding in Texas on Friday as he visited the stricken Hill Country region, where at least 120 people, including dozens of children, perished a week ago.

During a roundtable discussion after touring Kerr County, the epicenter of the disaster, Trump praised both Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for their response, saying they both did an “incredible job.”

The Trump administration, as well as local and state officials, has faced mounting questions over whether more could have been done to protect and warn residents ahead of the flooding, which struck with astonishing speed in the pre-dawn hours on July 4, the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

Trump reacted with anger when a reporter said some families affected by the floods had expressed frustration that warnings did not go out sooner.

“I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances,” he said. “I don’t know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that.”

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Amid the deadly flooding in central Texas, animal rescue groups are working tirelessly to shelter displaced pets, relocate them, and ensure their safety until they can be reunited with their families.Marc Peralta, chief program officer at Best Friends Animal Society, quoted ABC News, said, “When the floods occurred, we knew right away from other emergency response situations, such as the fires in Los Angeles, that we have shelters that are full of animals and what we are going to need in any event like this was to make room for displaced pets, lost pets and provide that relief for families that are already going through complete tumultuous situations to maybe have one less thing to worry about.”In response to the crisis, Best Friends Animal Society and its partners airlifted around 130 cats and dogs, allowing them to take shelter in the community, stay safe, and, hopefully, reunite with their families.

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As the death toll from catastrophic flash floods in Texas continues to climb, weather conspiracies on social media began to circulate. Users suggested a cloud seeding operation – carried out 2 days before the floods by the company Rainmaker – were to blame for triggering the flooding. These claims have been slammed by weather experts and meteorologists. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.

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You have to have a record-low IQ to blame the Texas flood on Trump. Not only is that completely outrageous, but it’s also a slap in the face to all the victims of the disaster. But Jasmine Crockett doesn’t care — she’d rather exploit this calamity to push her anti-Trump agenda for reasons that are anything but moral.

Did she think this video was helpful for anyone? Because I truly think she did…

First, she began her rant with “in my mind,” though it’s unclear which mind she means—especially since she’s nothing more than a mindless buffoon. But that’s beside the point. The emphasis is on “my,” as she’s proven her biggest concern is only herself.

What does this even have to do with her? Is she going to provide any proof that the Trump Administration is against “us”? And who exactly is “us,” and why is she making this about herself? Nonetheless, while she claims her heart goes out to all the victims, she’s showing that she won’t stop at anything to make this about “us”—and by “us,” she means one person, which is herself.

People like her can’t put their differences aside even for a moment, not even when innocent people and families have lost their lives. She can’t stop blaming Trump, even during one of the state’s worst floods in recent memory, and that helps no one, least of all herself.

But she doesn’t care about any of that. Her point—weak as it was—was simply to promote her foolish politics and try to prove a thing or two about a thing or two. In the process, she only made herself look even worse—something most people didn’t think was possible.

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Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner led President Donald Trump’s cabinet in a prayer Tuesday for the victims of the Texas flooding.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media platform X, “Before the press were brought into the room, @SecretaryTurner led the President, Vice President, and entire Cabinet in a spontaneous and powerful prayer for the people of Texas.

“This was a truly beautiful moment,” she added.

Turner, who served as a Baptist pastor and state legislator in Texas, opened his prayer, saying, “Father, we’re humbled by your grace, we’re humbled by your mercy. Lord God, we surrender to you. Jesus, you are the great redeemer.

“As we think about the families in Texas, Lord God, we don’t understand. We don’t know how to explain it. We don’t know why, but we know who — we know who to trust,” he affirmed.

“Lord God, we lift up the families that are mourning, that are grieving, those families that are hurting. Father God, we pray for a peace that surpasses all understanding,” Turner continued.

Before the press were brought into the room, @SecretaryTurner led the President, Vice President, and entire Cabinet in a spontaneous and powerful prayer for the people of Texas.

This was a truly beautiful moment. 🙏🏼❤️ pic.twitter.com/sArOqoeku3

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A flash flood threat has been issued in Ruidoso, New Mexico, as the area continues to experience heavy rainfall on Tuesday, resulting in flooding in the area that was burned out by the 2024 South Fork fire, with residents told to seek higher ground.

In a post on X, ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee wrote:

NEW MEXICO: flash flood emergency once again includes Ruidoso. The National Weather Service says that between 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain has fallen so far, with up to an additional half inch of rain possible.

“Ruidoso has been plagued by flash flooding events since the South Fork Fire left a major burn scar in the area in 2024,” she added. “Several significant flash flood events hit the area last year following the fire, and flash floods have hit the area again in recent weeks. It’s now monsoon season for the region, which brings a greater chance for thunderstorms and downpours.”

“While 1-2″ may not seem like a lot of rain, recent wildfire burn scar areas are especially prone to dangerous flash flooding and could also trigger debris flows and mudslides,” Zee’s post included. “The threshold for triggering flash flooding decreases with burned soil/ground. Lower rainfall totals could still trigger big flash flooding, and it can unfold very quickly. @danpeckwx.”

The National Weather Service reported that flood waters had reached homes and roads as videos surfaced on X showing the massive amount of water that had hit the area in a short amount of time, Weather.com reported.

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Meanwhile, questions intensified over whether Trump’s funding cuts had weakened warning systems, and over the handling of the rescue operation.

During an at-times tense news conference, Baker skirted a question on the speed of the emergency response.

“Right now, this team up here is focused on bringing people home,” he said.

Shel Winkley, a weather expert at the Climate Central research group, blamed the extent of the disaster on geography, the remnants of tropical storm Beryl, and exceptional drought, when dry soil absorbs less rainfall.

“This part of Texas, at least in the Kerr County flood specifically, was in an extreme to exceptional drought. So that’s the worst drought conditions that you can have, and we know that since May, temperatures have been above average,” Winkley told reporters.

The organisation’s media director, Tom Di Liberto, said staffing shortages at the National Weather Service had contributed to the disaster.

“What happens, and this is shared not only in Texas but weather forecast offices across the country, is that the people with the most experience dealing with these extreme (events), but also communicating it, have left in a lot of places, so you can’t necessarily replace that experience,” Di Liberto said.

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Meanwhile, questions intensified over whether Trump’s funding cuts had weakened warning systems, and over the handling of the rescue operation.

During an at-times tense news conference, Baker skirted a question on the speed of the emergency response.

“Right now, this team up here is focused on bringing people home,” he said.

Shel Winkley, a weather expert at the Climate Central research group, blamed the extent of the disaster on geography, the remnants of tropical storm Beryl, and exceptional drought, when dry soil absorbs less rainfall.

“This part of Texas, at least in the Kerr County flood specifically, was in an extreme to exceptional drought. So that’s the worst drought conditions that you can have, and we know that since May, temperatures have been above average,” Winkley told reporters.

The organisation’s media director, Tom Di Liberto, said staffing shortages at the National Weather Service had contributed to the disaster.

“What happens, and this is shared not only in Texas but weather forecast offices across the country, is that the people with the most experience dealing with these extreme (events), but also communicating it, have left in a lot of places, so you can’t necessarily replace that experience,” Di Liberto said.

with more rain expected– www.channelnewsasia.com
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Meanwhile, questions intensified over whether Trump’s funding cuts had weakened warning systems, and over the handling of the rescue operation.

During an at-times tense news conference, Baker skirted a question on the speed of the emergency response.

“Right now, this team up here is focused on bringing people home,” he said.

Shel Winkley, a weather expert at the Climate Central research group, blamed the extent of the disaster on geography, the remnants of tropical storm Beryl, and exceptional drought, when dry soil absorbs less rainfall.

“This part of Texas, at least in the Kerr County flood specifically, was in an extreme to exceptional drought. So that’s the worst drought conditions that you can have, and we know that since May, temperatures have been above average,” Winkley told reporters.

The organisation’s media director, Tom Di Liberto, said staffing shortages at the National Weather Service had contributed to the disaster.

“What happens, and this is shared not only in Texas but weather forecast offices across the country, is that the people with the most experience dealing with these extreme (events), but also communicating it, have left in a lot of places, so you can’t necessarily replace that experience,” Di Liberto said.

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Young attendees and staff at summer camps are among the victims of flash floods in Texas – along with teachers, a football coach, and a “hero” father who smashed open a window to free his family amid rising water.

Authorities say at least 107 people are known to have died – most of them in Kerr County. At least 27 girls and staff died at one location, Camp Mystic, alone.

Many of the victims have been identified in the US media by their relatives. Here is what we know so far about those who have been named – many of whom were children.

Camp Mystic is a nearly century-old Christian summer camp for girls on the banks of the Guadalupe River near the community of Hunt.

Operated by generations of the same family since the 1930s, the camp’s website bills itself as a place for girls to grow “spiritually” in a “wholesome” Christian atmosphere “to develop outstanding personal qualities and self-esteem”.

Renee Smajstrla, 8, was at the camp when floodwaters swept through, her uncle said in a Facebook post.

“Renee has been found and while not the outcome we prayed for, the social media outreach likely assisted the first responders in helping to identify her so quickly,” wrote Shawn Salta.

“We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday,” he wrote. “She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic.”

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CLIMATEWIRE | Texas knows it isn’t prepared for floods.

But the state has done little to address the risk — and the federal government under President Donald Trump is unlikely to help Texas cover the cost.

The threat was underscored last week when floodwaters ravaged central Texas — killing more than 100 people, including more than two dozen children and staff at a riverside summer camp. About 160 people were still missing as of Tuesday evening, according to Texas public safety officials.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — As commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick oversees the U.S. government’s vast efforts to monitor and predict the weather.

The billionaire also ran a financial firm, which he recently left in the control of his adult sons, that stands to benefit if President Donald Trump’s administration follows through on a decade-long Republican effort to privatize government weather forecasting.

Deadly weekend flooding in central Texas has drawn a spotlight to budget cuts and staff reductions at the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, two agencies housed within the Commerce Department that provide the public with free climate and weather data that can be crucial during natural disasters.

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In the wake of the devastating July 4 weekend floods in the greater Central Texas area, businesses, nonprofit organizations and ordinary citizens have stepped up to help our neighbors in need. Want to help? We’ve created this handy guide that includes information on ways to donate, upcoming benefits and more.

Many Austin restaurants have stepped up to the plate, donating proceeds from sales to benefit flood victims. Notably, Hopdoddy’s Burger Bar and DAM-A, Hot Pot & BBQ AYCE will donate 100% of profits from all of their Austin restaurants on Wednesday. Austin institutions Kerbey Lane and P. Terry’s will donate 100% of proceeds from all locations on Thursday. Here’s a full list of local restaurants that are donating to flood victims.

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One commenter called the graphic below an “absolutely bleak” reality, and he couldn’t be more right:

As the author of the tweet noted, it’s a “subcontinental flood” of foreigners…but not from Europe, which wouldn’t be so bad because that “subcontinental flood” would at least be comprised of people who largely share our value system, heritage, and culture. This “subcontinental flood” is pouring in from the third world, bringing along all its poverty, dysfunction, incivility, and depravity with it.

Gruesome halal butchery practices that inflict as much pain as possible on the animals going in your neighbor’s backyard? Welcome to Minnesota Nice!

Young children being sold off into marriage with pedophilic men? Here’s what one comprehensive study found:

 

[Child marriage] was higher among girls than among boys (6.8 vs. 5.7 per 1,000), and was lower among white non-Hispanic children (5.0 per 1,000) than among almost every other racial or ethnic group studied; it was especially high among children of American Indian or Chinese descent (10.3 and 14.2, respectively). Immigrant children were more likely than U.S.-born children to have been married; prevalence among children from Mexico, Central America and the Middle East was 2-4 times that of children born in the United States.

 

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One commenter called the graphic below an “absolutely bleak” reality, and he couldn’t be more right:

As the author of the tweet noted, it’s a “subcontinental flood” of foreigners…but not from Europe, which wouldn’t be so bad because that “subcontinental flood” would at least be comprised of people who largely share our value system, heritage, and culture. This “subcontinental flood” is pouring in from the third world, bringing along all its poverty, dysfunction, incivility, and depravity with it.

Gruesome halal butchery practices that inflict as much pain as possible on the animals going in your neighbor’s backyard? Welcome to Minnesota Nice!

Young children being sold off into marriage with pedophilic men? Here’s what one comprehensive study found:

 

[Child marriage] was higher among girls than among boys (6.8 vs. 5.7 per 1,000), and was lower among white non-Hispanic children (5.0 per 1,000) than among almost every other racial or ethnic group studied; it was especially high among children of American Indian or Chinese descent (10.3 and 14.2, respectively). Immigrant children were more likely than U.S.-born children to have been married; prevalence among children from Mexico, Central America and the Middle East was 2-4 times that of children born in the United States.

 

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Rescue teams in central Texas are continuing the search for survivors five days after devastating flash floods swept through the region. Officials say the death toll, already above 100, is expected to rise.

In Kerr County, where several summer camps are based, 84 bodies have been recovered, including 28 children. Camp Mystic, a Christian camp in the Texas Hill Country, confirmed 27 of its campers and staff lost their lives. Ten children and one counsellor are still unaccounted for.

Officials are investigating whether emergency alerts were adequate, as poor mobile service may have hindered warnings.