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By Sonam Sheth
Evening Politics Editor
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Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem became emotional while recounting her visit to Camp Mystic in Texas, which was ravaged by floodwaters that killed at least 27 campers and counselors.
The Context
The catastrophic floods that hit central Texas over Independence Day weekend broke a 93-year-old record on the Guadalupe River and killed more than 100 people, with dozens still missing.
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The National Weather Service (NWS) on Friday issued urgent warnings to people across central Texas amid the heavy downpours that resulted in months' worth of rain at once, causing the Guadalupe River to surge around 25 feet in only 45 minutes.
The floodwaters pulled people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragged them for miles past floating tree trunks and cars. Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
The catastrophic disaster has also triggered political scrutiny of the Trump administration and raised questions about whether the government's disaster response was hampered by steep cuts that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) made to the NWS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
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What To Know
Noem's voice broke on Tuesday as she recalled her visit to Camp Mystic during a televised Cabinet meeting.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary said she had "kind of fallen apart" inside the cabin where "all the little girls died." She said emergency responders in Texas are "still looking for a lot of little girls" who were swept away in the floods.
Noem added that Texans have "gone through something that is absolutely horrific, and it is heartbreaking to watch these families suffer the way that they are."
Noem also said she was "surprised" when she saw the damage at the camp, adding: "The parents that were looking for their children and picking up their daughters' stuffed animals out of the mud and finding their daughter's shoe that might be laying in the cabin and, just hugging and comforting people matters a lot."
She recalled an encounter with one of the fathers she met at the camp, saying she had asked him if he worked there.
"I walked over to him and I hugged him and said, 'Do you work here?'"
"'No, my little girl was in that cabin,'" Noem said he told her. "'I just found her best friend about an hour and a half ago.' She had passed away. And he just fell apart. And so then we just hugged and talked for probably an hour about that."
The visit was "very emotional" and "just so tragic," Noem said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster in 15 counties: Bandera, Coke, Comal, Concho, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Reeves, San Saba and Tom Green.
The ongoing rescue and recovery efforts include local and state officials, as well as international water rescue teams and firefighters that were sent by Mexico.
On Tuesday, former NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad told CNN that "one of the problematic issues" with the most recent flood was the "lack of a warning coordination meteorologist" at the NWS' Austin/San Antonio office, which he said was a critical position.
"The individual who had that position took one of the retirements that the administration had offered up a couple of months ago," Spinrad said.
A NOAA spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement that extra personnel were staffed at the NWS Austin/San Antonio and San Angelo offices during the flood and that the "NWS remains dedicated to our mission to serve the American public through our forecasts and decision support services."
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump was asked on Sunday if he thinks the government needs to hire back meteorologists whose jobs were cut and said: "I would think not. This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it. Very talented people are there, they didn't see it. It's, I guess they said, once in 100 years. They've never seen anything like this."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "Unfortunately, in the wake of this once-in-a-generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Senator Chuck Schumer and some members of the media. Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning."
What Happens Next
Flood warnings have expired for most of Texas, but rescue and recovery efforts will continue since dozens of people are still missing.
The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.
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