Texas flood death toll mounts as questions asked over warning system

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00:00The river rose by eight metres, more than a two-storey building in just 45 minutes,

00:06leaving nothing but devastation behind. In all, at least 82 people killed, including around 30

00:12children, swept away this weekend by those flash floods in Texas, as rescuers continue to scour

00:18the landscape for any sign of anyone alive or any bodies. Now, new warnings that more rain is also

00:24on the way, amid questions as well about why any warnings did not come sooner. Donald Trump

00:30calling those floods a 100-year catastrophe that nobody expected, as he said he will probably visit

00:36the scene later this week. But real pressure on him after recent cuts to forecasters.

00:43In light of the floods, do you think that the federal government needs to hire back any of the

00:47meteorologists who were fired in the last few months? I wouldn't know that. I really wouldn't.

00:53I would think not. This was the thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody

00:58saw it. Very talented people are there and they didn't see it. It's, I guess they said,

01:04once in 100 years they've never seen anything like this. So I wouldn't, I mean, people are trying

01:09to blame the school. They're trying to blame the camp. They're trying to blame, it's just a horrible

01:14thing. But no, I wouldn't say that. Donald Trump there. Well, earlier we spoke to our correspondent

01:20Wasim Kournay, who said criticism is growing on the authorities for failing to predict the floods.

01:26County records show that Kerr County, which has been the epicenter of this disaster, had begun

01:31exploring installing a new warning system nine years ago. At the time, the county commissioner

01:37called that area of central Texas probably the highest risk area for flooding in the state and

01:42called the warning system at the time, quote, pretty antiquated. Unfortunately, that warning system that

01:48was in place nine years ago has not been upgraded to this day. They had discussed installing speakers

01:54and sirens across critical parts of the Guadalupe River where this disaster happened, but that was

02:00not done. The question is also surrounding the issuing of warning. The National Weather Service

02:05has been hit hard by personnel cuts, by funding cuts, research cuts over the past few months since

02:10Donald Trump was inaugurated back in January. The nearest, the two nearest weather offices, nearest

02:15the Kerr County where this disaster happened, has been missing some staff members. But weather warnings

02:21were issued throughout the day and leading up to this disaster. The first flood watch was issued

02:25Thursday afternoon. But unfortunately, with much lower rainfall amounts, those weather models were not

02:30picking up on the extreme indication of this event, forecasting between 13 to 18 centimeters of rain,

02:36ultimately as much as 38 centimeters of rain fell. The first flash flood warning came in at around

02:411-14 in the morning. Friday morning, the first flash flood emergency, that is the highest level warning,

02:47came in at 4 o'clock in the morning, but the Guadalupe River burst its banks just an hour later,

02:52so giving very little time to react.

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