HOUSTON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democrats are pushing for an investigation into the staff cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) as the death toll from flash flooding in central Texas has reached 104.
U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday asked a government watchdog to immediately "open an investigation into the scope, breadth, and ramifications of whether staffing shortages at key local NWS stations contributed to the catastrophic loss of life and property during the deadly flooding."
Key forecasting and coordination positions at two NWS offices in central Texas were vacant when the flooding happened early Friday morning, Schumer was quoted by a New York Times report as saying.
"These are the experts responsible for modeling storm impacts, monitoring rising water levels, issuing flood warnings, and coordinating directly with local emergency managers about when to warn the public and issue evacuation orders," Schumer said.
The senator questioned whether the staffing vacancies contributed to delays, gaps or diminished accuracy of the forecasts related to the July 4 flooding.
Kerr County was hit the hardest, with at least 84 deaths, county officials said on Monday evening. Ten girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic, a 99-year-old all-girls Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, were still missing, according to the officials.
Four other counties in central Texas reported at least 20 deaths on Monday. ■