@FeralRobots @futurebird The Texas Department of Emergency Management has a daily weather call. They knew rains were going to be very heavy three days before the flooding. They communicated that to localities in a timely manner - what the localities did with that warning is on them.

There are a lot of questions that should be asked of Kerr County leadership over the past 20 years for their decisions to not implement an effective flood warning system and their response to TDEM's flood warning ("Let's just sit on this money because spending it would make Biden look good")

"Nobody could have predicted..." is bullshit. The responsible state organization predicted it and informed the counties giving them plenty of time to respond. Abbott is in full CYA mode running cover for Kerr County officials more interested in partisanship and power than running an effective government or saving Texans' lives.

@arclight @FeralRobots @futurebird
Can't speak about Kerr County, but the mayor of Kerrville was asked if he was invited on that call or on that call and he answered "no, I was not" to both.

@Okanogen @FeralRobots @futurebird It is reasonable to ask which officials knew what when and what they did with that information.

Also spending decisions for flood warning systems, especially when federal money was available. Did they take the opportunities they had to protect Texans and if not, why not?

@arclight @Okanogen @FeralRobots

It's not just reasonable it's what needs to be done after every disaster. How could this have been prevented? What will we do differently?

If those aren't on the table then the public is being asked to accept that "these things happen and nothing can be done" and the scrambling from some of the leadership says they care more about this not "sticking" to them than fixing anything.

To me it's very slick and inspires no trust. It's not leadership.

@arclight @Okanogen @FeralRobots

Real leadership is going after the problem with no regard for the impact on your political future. Just focusing on WHY and what could be changed.

I don't like to assume that people don't care, but when the puffery comes first? I start to wonder.

@futurebird @arclight @Okanogen @FeralRobots it’s what they do every time.
“Oh this isn’t the time to talk about that, let’s pray and put up little cutout angels for the victims, it’s callous and hurtful to the families to bring that up now, no one could have seen this coming”.
Everything from natural disasters to school shootings, same old tired bullshit.

@CatDragon @arclight @Okanogen @FeralRobots

It's insulting to tell people not to be angry. I go with my 5th grade students to a camp, and this has been giving me nightmares.

At least I won't get as much push back about my insistence that they keep their phones phones on them. next year I think. (taking phones is just lazy, I yell at them to put them away and they *learn* to be polite with technology)

@futurebird @arclight @Okanogen @FeralRobots Texas politicians have made it clear they don’t care about human life. The poor sods who differ from the norm will have a tough time ahead.

@CStamp @arclight @Okanogen @FeralRobots

Is it unreasonable that I expect that somethings ought to make some kind of more selfless state of awareness kick in? Like "if I could have done anything to stop this I need to find it and change it?" rather than all of the political calculations?

Maybe. Probably.

@futurebird @CatDragon @arclight @Okanogen@mastodon.social @FeralRobots Is that because they need to keeping their phones for emergency communication and they can have them on them without using them?

@futurebird @CatDragon @arclight @Okanogen @FeralRobots In the world we live in, it's horrifying that teachers would even consider taking a child's phone away from them.

No matter how much of a distraction it may be.

It's less bad than the alternative of being trapped in what's developing into a hostage situation with no way to communicate information to the outside or stranded without medical care during a natural disaster or trapped under rubble.

Not to mention the much more mundane needs of documenting abuses by other kids or authorities.

@alwayscurious @CatDragon @arclight @FeralRobots

Yes. And it's how they learn when it's OK to use their phone.

Frankly if a kid is on a trip and wants to text mom or dad I think they should be able to without asking for their phone from some box?

And YES there are many activities where I don't want to see the phones at all, but kids old enough to have them can learn these rules. (and if they can't you talk to the parents about if they should have one, which has always worked.)

@dalias @CatDragon @arclight @Okanogen @FeralRobots

There is a mentality that "we didn't have phones so kids don't need them"

But those cabins probably didn't have party lines, or pay phones. The world isn't set up for people who don't have a phone on their person anymore so taking them away isn't like setting the clock back.

And frankly it's just safer when you can communicate if you need to.

@futurebird @arclight @Okanogen @FeralRobots

This was a thing in the South of France.

35-ish years ago, there were wide-scale floods, so every town in the South oof France built flood mitigation defences.

25 years ago, in Nimes, the town council were complaining about the constant maintenance bills for something "that we will never need..."

That year, they decided to ok the funding, but it was going to be reviewed next year.

1/2