There was a hearing yesterday in Kerr County, Texas as desperate residents demanded to know where the help was after the devastating floods. Via the New York Times:
As soon as the raging waters receded on July 4 in Central Texas, Mike Richards led a group of volunteers to his property along the Guadalupe River to search for survivors. Instead, they found corpses, 10 of them, including a man that appeared to have bled to death as he waited for help.
Mr. Richards, 67, has been waiting for help ever since, from federal, state or local officials who could aid in the search, pitch in money for those who need it or help clear land that, he said, “still looks like a bomb went off.”
“Not a damned penny came through this gate from my taxpaying dollars,” he said on Tuesday as he looked at the twisted trees and piles of debris that still litter his property and beyond. “And I don’t understand why.”
Hon, I'm not ragging on you. This kind of tragedy shouldn't happen to anyone, and if it did, there should be rapid assistance. But you really don't understand why?
Because you voted for Republicans. This is what you were voting for, and you weren't paying attention.
Mr. Richards was one of hundreds of residents who packed a Texas legislative committee hearing on Thursday in Kerr County, which suffered the brunt of the 136 known deaths in the Texas Hill Country. Kerr County’s 108 dead included at least 27 counselors and campers from devastated Camp Mystic, most of them from two cabins near the river.
From the early days of the tragedy, officials in Kerr County have faced questions about the weak local government response and lack of alarms systems along the river. They have been at a loss to explain why they failed to secure grant funding for a flood warning system in recent years.
An examination of transcripts since 2016 from Kerr County’s governing body, the commissioners court, offers a peek into a small Texas county paralyzed by two competing interests: to make one of the country’s most dangerous region for flash flooding safer and to heed to near constant calls from constituents to reduce property taxes and government waste.
In other words, you voted for Republicans. Republicans don't care about voters, they care about donors -- and staying in power. They may not be good at helping people in need, but they're really good at gerrymandering!
You're furious at FEMA, which under Trump, slashed spending. Again: Republicans.
You need to read more. If you did, you'd understand exactly what you were voting for.
https://bsky.app/profile/sjscentraltx.bsky.social/post/3lvc5xsuk722s
