Rash: An ‘unimaginable tragedy’ for Texas — and the country

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“An unimaginable tragedy” is how officials from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River in central Texas, described the loss from the July 4 flood that took at least 27 campers and counselors. Overall, at least 109 people in Texas Hill Country were known to have lost their lives, a toll that kept rising even as the river receded (at least temporarily, before rain returned on Monday).

Every loss of life is tragic, but the youth of the campers, some as young as eight, compounded the catastrophe. Addressing the ongoing search-and-rescue operation that was becoming a search-and-recovery one, Joe Herring Jr., mayor of nearby Kerrville, laconically commented that “this will be a rough week.” For Kerrville, yes, but also the nation, as the tragedy did what the Fourth of July is supposed to do: unite the country, albeit in grief.

The American can-do spirit often highlighted on the national holiday was apparent in the flood zone too. Heroism from an estimated 1,700-plus individual citizens — including Lyle and Sue Glenna from Chisago City, Minn. — as well as first responders kept the carnage, however horrific, from being even higher. In one extraordinary example, Scott Ruskan, a 26-year-old U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer, is credited with saving 165 people from Camp Mystic, sometimes bringing two girls (and at times their stuffed animals) under each arm to rescue helicopters.

“I had a job to do,” Ruskan told the New York Times. “All these people are looking at you with a 1,000-yard stare. They want some sort of comfort, someone to save them.”

Those in the flood zone, to be sure. But also in the nation at large, which justifiably wonders how in this advanced technological age one of the worst flooding disasters in a century can occur, a question sparking an intensifying, inevitable debate about how it happened and how to prevent it from reoccurring.

While the focus should rightly remain on recovery (or miraculously, rescue) of the victims, comfort for their loved ones and helping the affected region get back to some semblance of workable order, a thoughtful, thorough investigation is in order.

The Trump administration has pushed back against those ascribing cuts from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to the tragedy, telling the Associated Press that staffing at the regional National Weather Service office was normal and that the NWS did in fact warn of a catastrophic flash-flood warning. There has been some speculation that the key issue was less a failure of forecasting and more one of communication, or local leaders in prior years rejecting an enhanced warning system due to its projected cost.

These and so many other unknowns need to be investigated. Doing so doesn’t dishonor the victims, but honors them with a truthful accounting. And on this there seems to be some early bipartisanship belying the normal political bickering, with polar-opposite senators like Texas’ Ted Cruz, a Republican, and New York’s Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, calling for an inquiry.

If and when that occurs it shouldn’t stop with this specific tragedy but also focus on future forecasting. Especially given the current context in Washington, as detailed by the Associated Press, which reports that “the Trump administration has cut hundreds of jobs at NWS, with staffing down by at least 20% at nearly half of the 122 NWS field offices nationally and at least a half dozen no longer staffed 24 hours a day. Hundreds more experienced forecasters and senior managers were encouraged to retire early. The White House also has proposed slashing its parent agency’s budget by 27% and eliminating federal research centers focused on studying the world’s weather, climate and oceans.”

It’s essential to address these key considerations as well as other questions. Because this “unimaginable tragedy” unfortunately needs to be imagined again, in Texas and elsewhere, especially since climate change can intensify some weather events.

That process can wait, however, as Texas and the rest of the U.S. grieves amid what will indeed be a rough week for the country but an enduring sorrow for the families and friends of the victims. “We need your prayers,” requested Mayor Herring. For many following the tragedy, they’ve already been said — repeatedly.