🐢🐢🐢 All The Way Down

 So:

I have no difficulty saying that Trump and Musk caused some of the 50+ flood deaths in Texas,” Abramson wrote in a widely shared thread on the social platform X.

“And here's why: these two men with no expertise in disaster preparedness were told not to cut the positions they cut, and were told people would die if they did. And then people died," he said.

But:

The Texas floods, which resulted from unprecedented rainfall and infrastructure failures across several counties, are among the deadliest in recent state history. Emergency responders have said many deaths occurred in areas where early warning systems failed or where evacuation routes were unmaintained

Yes, from the same article.

Might I add that, without evacuation routes that went AWAY from where the water was coming (NOAA issued a warning at 1 AM; the county issued one at 4 AM. These are rural roads, not well lit urban streets. People drive into high water in Houston after dark despite street lights. And this water would have been a flash flood. Your first warning might have been when it picked up your vehicle.), early warning systems might not have done much. So: were the routes maintained? And where did they go? Were routes available for this kind of flood? Safe ones? And why not? What is the state responsibility? What is the county responsibility?

There’s a complex series of errors and bad judgment here (like putting the cabins of the youngest campers in the river floodplain), and some just plain misfortune. But everyone is going to decide what happened and who to blame (or praise; some of the press conferences have been rightly criticized for officials congratulating each other for what they are doing NOW. Then? Well, that’s someone else’s fault, someone way down the food chain. Here’s where I point out the Legislature is taking more and more authority over the major (all blue!) cities of Texas. But when shit happens? State officials are quick to blame local authorities. As we will soon see.). Having assessed blame by mid-week (I’m being generous; Monday will be the deadline) , they’ll move on, leaving the dead to mourn and bury the dead.

And what really needs to be learned, will be forgotten about again.

IDEAS DON’T MATTER. THINGS DON’T MATTER. 

PEOPLE MATTER.