As a longtime resident of Durango and a grandmother who still believes in facts, compassion and accountability, I feel compelled to speak out after the recent floods in Texas claimed dozens of lives – many of them children.
This wasn’t just a “natural disaster.” It was a failure of government, and a preventable tragedy.
The National Weather Service, under the so-called “DOGE” program launched by Donald Trump and influenced by Elon Musk’s privatization agenda, was gutted over the past year. Hundreds of meteorologists and forecasting staff were let go. Weather balloon programs were halted. Satellite upgrades were delayed. And vital forecasting offices were shut down or left chronically understaffed.
So, when the skies opened over the Hill Country on July 4, dumping more than 10 inches of rain in hours, the official forecasts were off – dangerously off. People were caught unaware. Children at Camp Mystic died. Entire families were swept away.
Texas officials are now saying the cuts to the NWS likely cost lives. This isn’t speculation. It’s the grim math of ideology overruling public safety.
What happened in Texas should serve as a warning to the Mountain West. We live with wildfire risk, monsoon floods and shifting weather patterns. Gutting NOAA and the NWS is not just shortsighted – it’s deadly.
Let us not wait until disaster strikes our own backyard to speak up.
Carol Ruth
Durango
