The Texas Floods and What the Media Missed

Photo via San Antonio Express-News

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On the weekend of July 4th, 2025, a rainstorm hit central Texas and led to a catastrophic loss of life and infrastructure. According to a Scripps Institution of Oceanography report, some regions received 10 to 20 inches of rainfall across central Texas, with specific areas experiencing a rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour. At least 135 people died in the floods, including 27 of those deaths at Camp Mystic, a local Christian girls’ summer camp. In the midst of this tragedy, news outlets and social media users across the political spectrum began blaming one another for the disaster. The politicization of media coverage created a token story to weaponize tragedy for political means, and the Texas floods became yet another example of this distraction from devastation. 

As early as 9:22 a.m. on July 5th, just eight hours after the National Weather Service (NWS) issued the first flood warning in Kerr County at 1:14 a.m. Kandiss Taylor, a Georgia Republican running for Congress, posted on X: “Fake weather. Fake hurricanes. Fake flooding. Fake. Fake. Fake.” Similar claims were made by former national security adviser Michael Flynn and amplified by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who proposed a bill that would prohibit “the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity.” They were referring to a weather-modification technique called cloud seeding, which specific communities use to alleviate the effects of drought. However, it has nowhere near the power to produce the storm that struck Texas this past summer.

Simultaneously, Democrats like Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, attributed the devastation to climate change and the denialism of Republican politicians, writing in an op-ed that this was “a political failure that’s been happening… across the country.” Left-leaning media outlets, such as MSNBC, also suggested that the level of devastation was correlated with recent layoffs of weather forecasters at the NWS. The Trump administration quickly dismissed these claims. 

As someone born and raised in central Texas, I know that the consequences of these floods deeply affected my friends, my family, and our local community. I have rarely agreed with the actions of the Texas state government and am usually quick to criticize the Trump administration, as I am a proud Democrat. However, for the first time in my life, I found myself taking Ted Cruz’s side when he said, “this is not a time for partisan finger-pointing and attacks.” We can dissect the floods as much as we want, but we must first recognize that this was not a political issue. Both sides of the aisle failed to address this natural disaster as a tragedy and instead did what they do best: blame each other in the midst of a crisis. 

It is, of course, essential to investigate what might have caused such a catastrophic event. The rumors about cloud seeding were quickly fact-checked and deemed false. Climate change may have been a contributing factor, considering that extreme rainfall has increased in the last century. However, the blame does not solely belong to the Trump administration, which had only taken office six months before the flood. And while cuts to the NWS may have delayed communication, 22 alerts were issued in Kerr County, where the worst flooding occurred. I bring this up not to deny correlations between the floods and pressing political topics, but to stress that politics was not the issue itself. It’s not the time to complain about the opposing political party when children remain missing and families are still struggling to rebuild their lives.

This area of Texas is known for flash flooding due to the limestone in the ground, which, when combined with drought conditions, prevents water from being absorbed into the soil. My community experiences flash flooding regularly, but until this summer, I had never known anyone personally affected. 

While the media cluttered the narrative with partisan bitterness, positive things were taking place across Texas to help support those affected by the flooding. The H-E-B grocery store sent its disaster relief fleet of 18-wheelers to the hardest hit areas to provide food and supplies to those most in need. Local communities provided youth grief counseling resources and hosted speakers to help parents navigate their children’s trauma. Dozens of Texas companies and small businesses raised money to support search-and-rescue efforts in Kerr County and surrounding areas. Across Texas, community members tied purple and green ribbons around trees to honor the victims of the floods, referencing Camp Mystic’s signature colors. Dozens of volunteers also assisted with search-and-rescue operations, supply distribution, and fundraising efforts. 

These stories needed to be shared about the Texas flood disaster. We did not need thoughts and prayers or politicians to blame. We needed hope. Sadly, as our country becomes increasingly divided, hope is the last thing we seek.

It seems like the frequency of these tragedies–from natural disasters to mass shootings, and even war—has allowed us to close our eyes. We block out devastating events as just another noise in this loud and chaotic world. But we have to care. That’s the only way we’ll ever stop normalizing our desensitization to suffering. Unfortunately, it’s become too easy to simply set our phones down and pretend the world doesn’t exist—I, too, am guilty of this. However, if these floods have taught me anything, it’s that every event is personal to someone.

When we heard news of the floods, everyone I know reached out to friends and family connected to the camp—whether as counselors or the family members of campers. A girl I grew up with was missing and later found, thankfully alive, after being swept away while attempting to rescue girls in her cabin, most of whom didn’t survive. A boy I used to run track with was praised for his heroic acts, rescuing multiple kids at another camp in the area, Camp La Junta. An eight-year-old girl who lived at the end of my block, who attended my old elementary school, and whose dad coaches football at our local university, did not survive.

These are the human stories behind the floods, not conspiracy theories or DOGE layoffs. While we can assume and investigate all we want, news outlets missed the mark on this issue. Their coverage reflects the hostile divide that infects seemingly every aspect of our social dialogue. We all can agree that politics is important and deserves discussion due to its influence on our lives; however, there are times when peace is necessary to allow humanity to take up space. Polarization and the manipulation of tragedy are nothing new, nor a strategy likely to disappear anytime soon. However, it’s essential to remember that not everything needs to align with our political ideology. We don’t always need someone to blame. Sometimes we can merely accept that what happened was a tragedy and take steps to rebuild and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

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This article was edited by Emma Saliasi and Karol Quinde.