DHS Secretary Noem calls for weather system upgrades after deadly Texas flood

After a Texas flood killed at least 32 people Friday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem addressed criticism about notification prior to the flood, saying the administration is working on updating the National Weather Service and NOAA’s “neglected” and “ancient” systems.

Citing her time in Congress and as governor of South Dakota, Noem said that while the weather is difficult to predict, there have been instances when officials 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 said he wanted to fix and is currently upgrading the technology,” Noem said during a news conference with state officials Saturday afternoon. 

“The National Weather Service 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 government for many, many years.”

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The National Weather Service told Noem its notifications department started to look at expansion of its limited flood impact area at 1:18 p.m. local time Thursday, about 12 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 said. “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.”

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Initial reports indicated heavy rain Friday morning caused the Guadalupe River to rise nearly 30 feet in 45 minutes. 

Weather service employees told 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 officials on Saturday confirmed at least 32 deaths, including 14 children.

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One of the hardest hit areas was Camp Mystic, an all-girls private Christian camp in Hunt, Texas. 

As of Saturday afternoon, 27 young girls remain missing.

“I do carry your concerns back to the federal government, 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 community members,” Noem told 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 possible,” she added.

Noem said reform is ongoing, though she did not announce a specific timeline.