Scientists warned us. Similar tragedies have already killed thousands. Yet our leaders still shift the blame and refuse to acknowledge what’s killing people or do something about it.

A rain bomb dropped over the Guadalupe River basin in the early hours of Independence Day, killing more than five dozen people. Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly insisted they had no idea this kind of flood was possible.

“We have had weather events that were completely unpredictable,” Abbott declared. “And that is just a part of nature."

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

Kelly claimed: “No one knew this kind of flood was coming.” There was no warning system for thousands of residents and hundreds of young campers, even if someone did.

“Taxpayers won’t pay for it,” Kelly told the New York Times. Asked if voters in a county that went 78% for President Donald Trump might reconsider, he said, “I don’t know.”

Our leaders are willfully ignorant and intentionally unprepared.

Former Kerr County Commissioner Jonathan Letz, who retired in December, knew in 2016 that the flood risk was high and the warning system inadequate. Neighboring Comal County had spent about $300,000 to install a flood warning system with sirens.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

“We are very flood-prone. We know that,” Letz told the San Antonio Express-News in 2016. “We have an obligation to look at what we have, especially since we have a warning system out there that may or may not work. If it doesn’t work, we need to get rid of it.”

The Republican leaders in Kerr County, which is relatively wealthy and very conservative, in 2018

© Houston Chronicle