Flooded Systems: How Climate and Infrastructure Failed Texas
By Dom Altomari, July 29 , 2025
Rising flash floods, driven by climate change, are revealing deep flaws in infrastructure, emergency response, and disaster preparedness across the U.S. The recent Central Texas disaster, which claimed over 135 lives, highlights how underfunded systems and political inaction leave the most vulnerable communities dangerously exposed.
Source: AP News
Introduction
Nearly three weeks after devastating flash floods claimed 135 lives (and counting) across central Texas, the U.S. National Weather Service is grappling with the harsh reality of surpassing the previously set record of 3,023 flash flood warnings issued by this point in 1998. As of July 15th this year, 3,040 warnings have been issued for flash floods. The floods in Texas are not isolated events; they’re an undeniable symptom of a warming world, aging infrastructure, government cuts by the current administration and, as a result, deepening environmental injustice.
What Happened: A Brief Overview
Late in the afternoon on Wednesday, July 2nd, state emergency resources were activated in anticipation of flooding, and by 1:00p.m. CDT the next afternoon, the National Weather Service had flagged Central Texas for flash flooding. Local officials were briefed, but there were detrimental gaps in communication between local, state, and federal groups. By the evening of Thursday, July 3rd, flood watches were issued by the NWS for areas including Kerrville, with forecasts warning of historic rainfall. As rain gauges failed and storms intensified rapidly overnight, Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River began evacuating campers between 2 and 3 a.m. without full knowledge of the danger’s magnitude. By 4 a.m., the NWS issued a flash flood emergency, but both English and Spanish evacuation alerts were limited in availability, inconsistent and delayed, giving most residents and vactioners “very limited time to react.” The river crested around 5 a.m., rising over 20 feet, reaching “the river’s second-highest crest on record,” sweeping away homes, cabins, and vehicles. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Guadalupe River rose from about 3 feet to nearly 30 feet (26 feet total) in just 45 minutes between 9 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. CDT near Comfort, Texas. Rescue teams of first responders struggled amid the chaos, and by the time official alerts reached many residents at approximately 5:30 a.m., devastation was already well underway. By Friday night, at least 27 girls and counselors from Camp Mystic were confirmed dead. Over the past several weeks, 2,000 first responders and volunteers have dedicated all hours of the day (and night) to the search, rescue, and cleanup of their beloved communities. The death toll has risen to at least 135 since then, with over 100 other members of the community still missing.
The Devastation That Followed
This tragedy is a reminder that many rural communities across the U.S. face increasing flood risks. Texas “lacks the funding and technical capacity to implement comprehensive flood risk reduction on its own without state or federal support,” despite recent improvements to flood planning following Hurricane Harvey in 2017. As extreme weather becomes more common, it is becoming increasingly clear that underfunded rural communities will be left to fend for themselves. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the damage done by the flooding ”was made worse by a lack of money for early warning systems, by drainage systems and emergency communication networks that haven't been updated to handle more intense storms or growing populations, and by the many older buildings in harm's way.” Aerial footage revealed the extent of the damage done to homes, RVs and farms in the early days following the storm, which the Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller described as “pretty devastating.” Entire fields were lost, equipment was destroyed, and livestock carried off by floodwaters. “We’ve had tractors underwater, irrigation systems twisted like spaghetti, and dead cattle found stuck in trees,” Miller said. For many farmers, the cost of damage reaches into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, which could take years to recover from, if at all. Miller also noted that the Hay and Feed Hotline, as well as the AgriStress Helpline, are resources available to support farmers by providing disaster relief funding, free animal feed, and mental health services.
In Kerr County, entire neighborhoods and RV parks, which are often home to retirees, working-class families, and those with nowhere else to go, were obliterated and swept away. On July 4th, at Blue Oak RV Park, owner Lorena Guillen woke at 3:30 a.m. to water rushing through her property. All 33 RVs and mobile homes were washed away. “Cabins were smashing into trees. You couldn’t see anything, but you could hear the screaming,” she told reporters.
The destruction exposed deep inequities in the flood insurance system. The vast majority of those hit hardest did not have flood insurance, limiting their possibilities to rebuild. A report released in May 2025 by the Neptune Flood Research Group revealed that just 7 percent of Texans have flood insurance through the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program. That number drops to just 2 percent when surveying inland counties like Kerr and Travis (two of the counties along the Guadalupe River that were hit the hardest).
For many folks like Yolanda Chavira (a retired homeowner just outside Leander), flood insurance is simply too expensive, costing over $700 a year. Chavira also wasn’t technically in a flood zone, however her home was still flooded. Now, her house is mold-ridden and unlivable, which has forced her to sleep in a small back shed without plumbing. “We don’t have a home,” she said. “Our home is standing, but it’s unlivable.” Even those who do end up qualifying for governmental aid have found it wildly insufficient. FEMA’s individual assistance caps out at $87,200, but most people end up receiving far less. After recent hurricanes, the average payout was under $6,000, a small drop in the bucket in counties where the average home costs half a million dollars. Others impacted may qualify for low-interest loans, but for most older and low-income residents, taking on debt isn't a feasible option. Climate change not only poses a recovery crisis, but an insurance crisis as well. Years of “catastrophe amnesia,” high costs, declining enrollment in flood coverage, and lack of awareness have left thousands unprotected.
Why It’s Happening More Often (& Will Only Continue To Do So)
Flash flooding is becoming more frequent and more destructive due to climate change. As the planet warms, more water evaporates and stays trapped in the atmosphere, which means storms can dump heavier rain over shorter periods of time. For every 1°F rise in temperature, the atmosphere holds about 4 percent more moisture. With global surface temperatures already over 2°F warmer than a century ago, there's nearly 9 percent more water in the air today, making intense rainfall events far more likely. A study published by NASA in 2021 found that “the proportion of the world’s population exposed to floods grew by 20 to 24 percent.”
Source: NASA (2000 - 2015)
Hotter temperatures also dry out the soil before storms hit, making it harder for the ground to absorb water. This leads to faster runoff and onset of sudden, powerful floods. At the same time, increased development has stripped the land of natural defenses: wetlands, forests, and open spaces that once absorbed rainwater have been paved over with roads, parking lots, and buildings. Most cities continue to rely on outdated stormwater systems that were not built to withstand these more frequent, unprecedented weather events. As a result, more water stays above ground, quickly surging through neighborhoods and inundating infrastructure. Homes and critical infrastructure are continuing to be built in flood-prone areas, often without knowledge of the real risk. More than 21 million homes and businesses in the U.S. are at risk of flooding, which is 67 percent higher than what federal maps currently show.
Texas has consistently ranked as the state with the highest rate of flood-related deaths by a significant margin, earning several regions of the state the nickname, “Flash Flood Alley.” Running from San Antonio through Austin and up toward Dallas–Fort Worth, this corridor is especially vulnerable because of its unique combination of geography, geology, climate, and rapid development. The region’s rocky soil and steep terrain are unable to absorb large amounts of water, so when heavy rain falls, it rushes downhill quickly, overwhelming surrounding creeks and rivers. Add in increasingly frequent, extreme rainfall due to climate change, outdated infrastructure and widespread urban sprawl, and it’s a recipe for disaster.
What Needs to Change
As flash flooding intensifies, we need long-term adaptation strategies to make communities safe and resilient. In both cities and rural areas, natural infrastructure is the frontline defense and green infrastructure is an affordable, effective tool. Options like rain gardens, permeable pavement, green roofs, and restored wetlands absorb water, reduce runoff, and take pressure off failing stormwater systems. Cities like Wuhan, China, Cape Town, South Africa and Tokyo, Japan have been leading the movement of implementing climate resilient infrastructure as a combatant of extreme flooding events and have found success utilizing a combination of ideas. As far as U.S. cities go, New York City developed a proposal called The BIG U following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Over a decade later, New York is proving resilient in the follow-through of their ambitious proposal with the opening of the rebuilt East River Park, part of the new East Side Coastal Resiliency Project Smarter.
Building codes and zoning laws are equally critical, despite the Trump administration's cancellation of the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS), which was described as having “bipartisan support and required structures built with federal dollars in or near floodplains be able to withstand climate-induced flooding.” For decades, development has pushed deeper into floodplains, often because the land is cheaper. Mandating accurate flood risk disclosure, restricting development in high-risk zones, and updating FEMA’s outdated flood maps would give people the information and protection they need to make safe, well-informed decisions, particularly in communities that have historically experienced redlining.
In 2017, just days before Hurricane Harvey, the Trump administration revoked an Obama-era rule requiring federally funded infrastructure to account for future flood risks like sea level rise, a critical safeguard in the era of climate-driven disasters. In recent months, the Trump administration’s 2025 budget proposal slashed funding for FEMA’s flood mapping program by 25 percent, gutted support for the National Weather Service, and issued severe cuts to NOAA, the very agencies responsible for forecasting storms, updating flood maps, and helping communities prepare. ”Weather forecasts gradually improve as scientists add more data. But they’ll likely plateau — or even degrade — as NOAA’s research and observation functions vanish, many scientists warn.” After spending more than a decade with FEMA’s urban search and rescue system, the head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch Ken Pagurek resigned the morning of July 21st. These life-and-death cuts are already leaving government officials overwhelmed and entire towns devastated by their consequences.
In Texas, lawmakers and officials have encouraged unchecked development in floodplains and failed to mandate resilient building codes, even as extreme weather disasters pile up. In fact, officials in Kerr County had previously considered a more robust warning system for flooding along the Guadalupe River, but later rejected it claiming it would be “too expensive.” A special session at the Texas Capitol on July 21st was set to address flood recovery and preparedness as top priorities, however constituents fear the critical subject will be overshadowed by the GOP’s aggressive redistricting efforts. Both federal and state leaders must start treating climate resilience as a priority, or communities will continue to drown in a cycle of neglect.
Flash floods are no longer rare. This summer’s floods in Central Texas were just one of the latest examples: washed-out farmland, submerged homes, stranded RV parks, and over a hundred lives lost. Without major emission cuts, these extremes will only continue to escalate. We need to confront the root culprit: climate change due to fossil fuel pollution, of which Texas is both a victim of and simultaneously one of the biggest contributors to. Unless we shift course, we are only guaranteeing more self-destruction ahead.
Conclusion
In the face of an impossible tragedy, Texas has proven that our most important defense in the ever-changing face of the climate crisis is community care. While it is no secret that this time of year is particularly prone to floods, according to climate scientist Kate Marvel, “This is almost a textbook example of climate change impacts,” and “there is absolutely no doubt that climate change, caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases, is making extreme rainfall more extreme.” Texas is not alone in their grappling with recent unprecedented “1,000 year [weather] events,” and as long as we continue to burn fossil fuels at the same (or increased) rates, they will only recur more frequently and with greater intensity. Whether it’s rampant fire and droughts in the West or floods and unprecedented storm systems in the East and South, climate extremes are here now and the choices we make today will determine how many more lives are upended for years to come.
Take Action
Public advocacy has proven time and time again to be our most critical line of defense. Here are ways that you can help:
Join over 40,000 signatures on the petition here to urge the installation of an early warning siren system in Kerr County.
Sign on to Action Network’s Petition to Congress: “Don’t dismantle FEMA. Fund it fully and staff it with qualified and experienced professionals.”
Sign on to change.org’s petition to stop NOAA funding cuts.
Sign on to Action Network to tell your governor and state attorney general to hold Big Oil accountable for their climate crimes.
Sign on to change.org’s petition to restore weather prediction funding.
Sign Greenpeace’s Polluters Pay Pact.
Tell Congress to hold polluters accountable for climate damage.
Demand data transparency from Director Steven E. Seitz at the Federal Insurance Office.
Contact your local rep in the Texas House of Representatives and urge them to pass HB 165 to address disaster relief.
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