It Was Just the Weather’s Fault - How Kristi Noem Flooded Responsibility Away for Herself and Trump

It was the image of a government failure - in lipstick and blazer. While the mud in the streets of Hunt was still steaming and Camp Mystic had become the ruin of a nightmare, Kristi Noem, Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security, stepped in front of the cameras. Beside her: Greg Abbott, taciturn, strained. In front of her: an agitated public wanting to know why no one was warned in time. Why girls died. Why sirens stayed silent. And Noem? Talked about technology. Not about guilt. Not about grief. But about “antique systems” and an allegedly “ongoing modernization” - as if it had been the rain that failed, not the state. When asked by a reporter whether this was a fundamental state failure, she replied with PR routine: They were working on it. Trump wanted to improve everything anyway. The systems were outdated. The previous administration was to blame. That Trump himself had been in office from 2017 to 2021 - not a word. That he himself gutted the early warning system in 2025 through his austerity laws - no admission. Just evasions.

But the truth is documented: Hundreds of positions were cut under Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” - including at the NOAA weather agency. Eight of 122 weather offices in the US are so understaffed they can no longer operate around the clock. NPR reported back in May that the weather service is currently functioning only in makeshift fashion - with band-aids instead of reforms. And when the Guadalupe River swelled, there was no one left who could have warned loudly enough. Noem still tried to kick the ball out of bounds. Yes, she would “relay the concerns to the president.” Yes, they wanted to “do everything” to improve the technology. But these words came too late. For at least 47 people. For 15 children. For 20 girls still missing. It wasn’t just the water that threatened their lives. It was also the ignorance of those who could have helped - and preferred to plug budget holes rather than upgrade sirens.

Donald Trump has already announced that he plans to abolish FEMA - the federal emergency management agency - starting this fall. In the future, aid is to be distributed directly from the White House. Less money, more control. And for Texas, that means greater dependence on a president who considers budget cuts more important than functioning warning systems. What remains is an image: A minister answering questions with empty phrases. A president basking in Mar-a-Lago while children suffocate in the mud. And a country wondering whether its government is still governing - or has already withdrawn from responsibility.