Deadly Texas flood exposes 'neglected' weather alert system Trump aims to modernize

After a Texas flood killed at least people Friday Department of Homeland Defense DHS Secretary Kristi Noem addressed criticism about notification prior to the flood saying the administration is working on updating the National Weather Facility and NOAA's neglected and ancient systems Citing her time in Congress and as governor of South Dakota Noem announced that while the weather is arduous to predict there have been instances when executives and citizens expressed the need for quicker warning and clearer notification before deadly weather That is one of the reasons that when President Donald Trump took office he declared he wished to fix and is currently upgrading the apparatus Noem noted during a news conference with state bureaucrats Saturday afternoon The National Weather Function has indicated that with that and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA we needed to renew this ancient system that has been left in place with the federal cabinet for countless a multitude of years PARENTS DESPERATELY SEEKING ANSWERS ON MISSING CAMPERS AFTER TEXAS FLOODThe National Weather System reported Noem its notifications department started to look at expansion of its limited flood impact area at p m local time Thursday about hours before the tragedy Though a flood watch was issued Noem described it as a moderate alert When the weather system came over the area it stalled she revealed It was much more water much like what we experienced during Hurricane Harvey with the same type of system that was unpredictable in the way that it reacted in the way that it stopped right here and dumped unprecedented amounts of rain that caused a flooding event like this TEXAS RIVER FLOOD LEAVES AT LEAST DEAD AS EXIGENCY CREWS RACE TO FIND OTHERS MISSING CAMP EVACUATEDInitial reports indicated heavy rain Friday morning caused the Guadalupe River to rise nearly feet in minutes Weather institution employees described Noem they continued to elevate notifications though those alerts likely would have come through in the early morning hours when local residents were asleep Texas leaders on Saturday certified at least deaths including children HOMELAND GUARD SECRETARY KRISTI NOEM HOSPITALIZED AFTER ALLERGIC REACTIONOne of the hardest hit areas was Camp Mystic an all-girls private Christian camp in Hunt Texas As of Saturday afternoon young girls remain missing I do carry your concerns back to the federal cabinet to President Trump and we will do all we can to fix those kinds of things that may have felt like a failure to you and to your society members Noem recounted a reporter We know that everybody wants more warning time and that's why we're working to upgrade the technologies that have been neglected for far too long to make sure that families have as much advanced notice as workable she added Noem noted overhaul is ongoing though she did not announce a specific timeline