The Trump administration has canceled a $3 million grant to the Mesonet weather data network, based at the University at Albany, which was meant for developing emergency management tools.

The July Fourth flooding in Texas’ Hill Country was a heart-wrenching tragedy, one that claimed more than 100 lives, many of them children, and left scores of people still missing. Flash floods and other catastrophic weather events can overwhelm even the best-prepared communities, and the disaster along the Guadalupe River happened as most people slept. It is the deadliest inland flooding the U.S. has seen in nearly 50 years.

To talk about whether there were things that local, state and federal governments might have done differently to prepare for such a disaster, or to improve communication or response plans, is not to politicize the devastation; those are necessary analyses that help us make sure such loss of life need never be suffered again. Those deliberations will come, in time. But we don't need to single out any one tragedy to see the bigger picture: Extreme weather events have become much more frequent. And to save........

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