Former federal officials and outside experts have warned for months that President Donald Trump’s deep staffing cuts to the National Weather Service could endanger lives. After torrential rains and flash flooding struck Friday in the Texas Hill Country,

Texas forecasters issued a series of early-morning warnings about “life-threatening flooding” along the Guadalupe River.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump appeared to deflect reporters’ questions on the deadly flash floods in central Texas last week, including a question on whether his administration’s cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) affected preparedness levels in the region.