Texas

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In today’s newsletter,  we’re grieving with the people of central Texas as they navigate an unbearable tragedy. Plus, a glimmer of hope for Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid patients.

Thinking of Silvana and María,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Unforgiving waters: On Friday, a devastating flash flood struck central Texas, washing away homes, vehicles, and much of an all-girls’ summer camp, Camp Mystic. The death toll is over 100 but is expected to rise as rescuers continue searching the Guadalupe River for remains of the deceased.

As is often the case when a tragedy of this size occurs, many are wondering what, if anything, could have been done differently to preserve life. According to a timeline compiled by NPR, the National Weather Service (NWS) and the Texas Division of Emergency Management issued warnings of imminent flooding in the area, with alerts upgrading in severity hours before the river started to swell. But some Texas officials are blaming the NWS—an organization that lost 600 workers this year because of Trump’s federal restructuring and funding cuts to its parent, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—for inadequate warnings. Trump denied the correlation, saying, “This is a 100-year catastrophe.”

Well, yes and no. This kind of flooding used to be a 100-year catastrophe, but human behavior and government failures have quite literally changed the game. While there will need to be an investigation to determine if the shortages at NWS (including the fact that a key manager in charge of local warnings reportedly left after cuts this spring) exacerbated the situation, one thing is certain: extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and this flood’s severity was impacted by worsening climate change.

“With a warmer atmosphere, there is no doubt that we have seen an increase in the frequency and the magnitude of flash flooding events globally,” meteorologist Jonathan Porter told the L.A. Times. “The key question is, what did people do with those warnings…What was their weather safety plan, and then what actions did they take based upon those timely warnings, in order to ensure that people’s lives were saved?”

Perhaps the loss of life could have been minimized with more evacuations from the area, nicknamed Flash Flood Alley, but it is an inescapable fact that more and more people will die as the Earth continues to warm. And as we’ve seen from the number of young girls swept away by flood waters, it will be the most vulnerable who pay the price.

Whether we realize it or not, we’ve reached a point where every single one of us has a climate disaster story. (If you just thought to yourself, I don’t, remember the last two summers were the hottest summers since 1940 and not everyone lived to tell the tale. You’ve lived through at least two climate disasters.) Maybe you lost everything fleeing Hurricane Maria—or found yourself breathing poor air in New York City as smoke from the Canadian wildfires made its way south. Either way,  living through or dying from a natural disaster is becoming unremarkable. The time for climate denialism is long gone. If the government is unwilling to take the financial and political steps needed to slow climate change, the “100-year catastrophes” will continue to mount.

How you can help survivors in Texas:

Kerr County Relief Fund 

Austin Mutual Aid 

All Hands and Hearts 

TEXSAR

World Central Kitchen 

Hill County Crisis Council 

AND:

• The so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” is getting the pushback it deserves. Planned Parenthood Federation of America and two of its partners in Massachusetts and Utah filed a lawsuit over a policy in the bill that would block any organization that offers abortions from receiving Medicaid money for non-abortion services provided (aka the provision that “defunds” Planned Parenthood). The groups are arguing that the block would violate providers’ First and Fifth Amendment rights, and yesterday, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order on that portion of the BBB. It’s a win that could have huge impact on hundreds of Planned Parenthood clinics and thousands of patients.

• We are beginning to learn more about the specifics around Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, which recent reporting shows included an airstrike on Tehran’s Evin prison in late June. The prison, known for human rights violations and housing political prisoners, also had a “trans ward” which was destroyed in the attack, leaving more than 100 transgender and gender non-conforming people presumed dead. Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, who was once imprisoned in Evin, signed a letter that read in part, “The Israeli attack on Evin Prison—carried out in broad daylight, in front of families and visitors—is clearly a war crime.”

WHAT REMAINS OF A HOSPITAL INSIDE EVIN PRISON. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

• According to a new labor market analysis by the National Women’s Law Center, a notable number of women have quit or lost their jobs this year. Since January, a net 338,000 women have left the labor force, while a net gain of 183,000 men joined it. One expert told Newsweek he attributes the shift to how our country increasingly treats childcare as a “luxury rather than infrastructure.” Our economy, he said, is “basically telling half its talent to stay home."

• Could someone, literally anyone, please take Marjorie Taylor Greene’s phone away?

• UFC president Dana White has confirmed that his company is in talks to host a competition on the lawn of the White House next summer. You have to laugh at the irony here: Just a few years ago, Trump supporters were taking up the cry of “shut up and dribble” about athletes like LeBron James sharing their political opinions, and now Donald Trump and Dana White are practically dry-humping each other to make poli-sports great again. I think we’ve seen this film before.

• Good news, friends: The most hated rule in America since UNO confirmed you can’t double-stack Draw 4s is ending. The TSA has announced that passengers will no longer have to remove their shoes while going through security at the airport. Finally!

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