At least 129 people are dead from the devastating flooding in the Texas Hill Country. Kerr County was hit the hardest, with at least 103 deaths, including 36 children. President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration for the county and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground there.

Q: Is it true that if President Donald Trump hadn’t defunded the National Weather Service, the death toll in the Texas flooding would have been far lower or nonexistent? A: The Trump administration did not defund the NWS but did reduce the staff by 600 people.

For years, employees say, they've had to do more with less. But the ability to fill in the gaps became strained to the breaking point when the Trump administration began pushing new staffing cuts.

President Donald Trump on Friday defended the National Weather Service’s advanced warnings of the heavy rainfall that caused catastrophic flooding in central Texas last week, killing over 120 people.

Key positions at National Weather Service offices across Texas are vacant, sowing doubt over the state’s ability to respond to natural disasters as rescuers comb through the flood-ravaged Hill Country.

Experts said the NWS did a good job warning about the flooding, but questions remain about whether the cuts played a role.

Renowned Texas meteorologist Troy Kimmel spoke on Inside Texas Politics about the forecast preceding the deadly flooding in the Hill Country.

Deadly flood in Texas sparks a debate over whether recent cuts and staffing shortages led to a greater loss of life.

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Congressman Greg Casar and several other Democratic lawmakers have sent letters to U.S. leaders in the aftermath of deadly Central Texas floods, demanding answers about the federal response.