WASHINGTON — The large and growing death toll from the flash flooding in Texas has touched off a debate about whether budget cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration to the National Weather Service contributed to the magnitude of the disaster. The U.S. Senate’s top Democrat, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, is demanding the administration answer whether staffing shortages contributed to the “catastrophic loss of life.” But the White House is pushing back.

Parts of the Texas Hill Country saw close to 20 inches of rain before Friday’s deadly flash flooding. Some state emergency officials were quick to say that was not what the forecasts projected.

“It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,” Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said over the weekend.

A spokesperson for the NWS told Spectrum News that while the agency is “heartbroken by the tragic loss of life,” it provided flash flood warnings late Thursday and early Friday, three hours before local creeks and rivers became deadly torrents.

“The National Weather Service was pretty much on top of this situation, given that they’re even short-staffed, they were still on top of this, and they provided the warnings,” John Sokich, the former director of congressional affairs for the NWS, told Spectrum News.

As soon as the floodwaters receded, the questions began. Was the weather service, in fact, on top of the situation? And did the Trump administration’s cuts to the agency contribute to the enormous loss of life? 

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch just after 1 p.m. on Thursday and its first flash flood warning at 11:41 p.m. for Bandera County. 

Just after 1 a.m. Friday, a warning was issued for Bandera and Kerr counties with a designation that should have triggered wireless emergency alerts. 

Just after 4 a.m., the flash food warning was upgraded to a flash flood emergency for Kerr County. 

The first reports of flooding were issued just after 4:30 a.m. according to the Weather Service.

But local officials say when to call for an evacuation is always a question.

“Evacuation is a delicate balance, because if you evacuate too late, you then risk putting busses, you know, or cars or vehicles or campers on roads into low water areas, trying to get them out, which then can make it even more challenging, because these flash flood floods happen very quickly,” said Dalton Rice, city manager for the City of Kerrville. 

“It’s very tough to make those calls, because what we also don’t want to do is cry wolf,” Rice continued.

The Associated Press reports the NWS office responsible for the Austin and San Antonio region had five staffers at work, the usual number for an overnight shift when severe weather is expected.

But the website for the NWS shows six of 27 positions are vacant, including a manager responsible for issuing warnings and coordinating with local emergency management officials.

Plus, all of this unfolded in the early morning, when many in the danger zone presumably were asleep.

Schumer on Monday demanded an investigation into whether the vacancies contributed to the loss of life. 

“The roles left unfilled are not marginal, they’re critical,” Schumer wrote. “These are the experts responsible for modeling storm impacts, monitoring rising water levels, issuing flood warnings, and coordinating directly with local emergency managers about when to warn the public and issue evacuation orders. To put it plainly: they help save lives.”

The White House pushed back.

“There is ongoing flood monitoring, and these offices were well-staffed. In fact, one of the offices was actually over staffed. They had more people than they need. So any claim to the contrary is completely false, and it’s just sad that people are pushing these lies,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

At a press conference, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said there should not be “partisan games.”

“This is not a time for partisan finger pointing and attacks. Now, after we come through search and rescue, after we come through the process of rebuilding, there will naturally be a period of retrospection,” Cruz said.

As part of Elon Musk’s efforts under Trump to shrink the size of government, the NWS lost hundreds of employees.

Sokich, who has worked at the NWS for more than 40 years, says more staff would have been helpful ahead of time, especially for outreach and education with community members and emergency managers. 

“We have to again examine that last mile of communication, how to make sure people get the information,” Sokich said. “It’s the wireless emergency alerts on your cell phone, the NOAA Weather Radio, television and radio stations. All of that is a way to get the information. People have to be aware of it and have to make sure they can receive the information.”

President Trump has floated phasing out the Federal Emergency Management Agency and having states take on more responsibility for disaster response and recovery. When asked if the president is reconsidering that plan, Leavitt said it is a policy discussion that will continue.