Well, we saw another example of why we needn’t rush to fill the information vacuum the moment a shooting is reported.
TLHLIM
- Thread starter sturg33
- Start date
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Idaho firefighter sniper Wess Roley had ‘Nazi tendencies’ and filled schoolbooks with swastikas, ex-classmates say
Idaho firefighter killer Wess Roley had “Nazi tendencies” and was “obsessed with guns” as a schoolkid — often alarming fellow students by doodling swastikas and weapons…
nypost.com
Tapate50
Well-known member
Tapate50
Well-known member
Man, next time I’ll wait a second before posting. Learning more every day!Idaho firefighter sniper Wess Roley had ‘Nazi tendencies’ and filled schoolbooks with swastikas, ex-classmates say
Idaho firefighter killer Wess Roley had “Nazi tendencies” and was “obsessed with guns” as a schoolkid — often alarming fellow students by doodling swastikas and weapons…
I just figured lefties hate first responders, so it made sense as a motive.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
feel free to call them leftists...this is the correct thread for such people
we're willing to accept him as one of us
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sturg33
I
from where I sit the massive college protests waiving the Palestinian flag have more in common with nazis than the MAGA flag waivers
This leftist is fucking dumb, but losing the ability to be polite is absolutely a bipartisan endeavor.
Absolutely disgusting. Those spinning the NOAA thread are also lobbing political softballs because a reduction in funding/staffing for NOAA isn’t like flipping a light switch. So in addition to the moral rot, they’re not even doing their own bit effectively.
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Oh, it wasn’t budget cuts? Sometimes weather is unpredictable? *feigns shock* Fucking idiots.
If I were to be a lefty shill, I’d at least go with something more interesting like the Catholics were right all along and a flood is coming because of how we’re treating migrants.
zbhargrove
Well-known member
As a forecaster for the NWS... budget cuts had absolutely zero to do with this tragedy. The office in question was nearly fully staffed and extra balloon launches would not have helped. Trust me, I'm against the cuts and they have created all sorts of problems... but this was not one of those problems. If we are blaming people, we should blame local officials. A Flash Flood Watch was issued 13 hours in advance and a Flash Flood Warning highlighting a potential life threatening situation (that automatically went off on everyone's phones) was issued 3 hours before. The camp should have been evacuated but local officials ignored the warning and then tried to throw the NWS under the bus. Thankfully they are getting push back for their incompetence.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Yeah. It seems there was a 3-4 hour gap between when the NWS issued the Warning and when local officials followed up. The attempts by some of these local officials to shift the blame to the NWS are contemptible.
The deza by social media influencers is par for the course. The blame shifting by local officials is something that does merit pushback.
I've read that there are some key vacancies at the NWS offices serving the region. The office serving Austin and San Antonio has vacancies in two top positions, including one position known as warning coordination meteorologist (who retired April 30 after taking the early retirement package). The office in San Angelo is operating without a meteorologist in charge, the top position in any forecasting office.
Even with these vacancies, the NWS seems to have sent its advisories in a fairly timely manner in the face of a rapidly developing situation. It is unclear if coordination and communication with local officials was affected by the retirement of the warning coordination meteorologist.
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nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
There is also this:
In an interview, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, said the county did not have a warning system because such systems are expensive, and local residents are resistant to new spending.
“Taxpayers won’t pay for it,” Mr. Kelly said. Asked if people might reconsider in light of the catastrophe, he said, “I don’t know.”
In an interview, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, said the county did not have a warning system because such systems are expensive, and local residents are resistant to new spending.
“Taxpayers won’t pay for it,” Mr. Kelly said. Asked if people might reconsider in light of the catastrophe, he said, “I don’t know.”
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
More from the Times article:
The tragedy began to unfold in the early hours of July 4, when more than 10 inches of rain fell in some areas northwest of San Antonio, including in Kerr County, where more than 850 people were evacuated by rescuers. As of Saturday evening, 27 girls from a Christian summer camp remained missing.
That night, Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, appeared to fault the Weather Service, noting that forecasters on Wednesday had predicted as much as six to eight inches of rain in the region. “The amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of those forecasts,” he said at a news conference with Gov. Greg Abbott.
But what makes flash floods so hazardous is their ability to strike quickly, with limited warning. Around midnight on Thursday, the San Angelo and San Antonio weather offices put out their first flash flood warnings, urging people to “move immediately to higher ground.” The office sent out additional flash flood warnings through the night, expanding the area of danger.
It is not clear what steps local officials took to act on those warnings. A spokesman for the Kerr County emergency management department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The amount of rain that fell Friday morning was hard for the Weather Service to anticipate, with reports in some areas of 15 inches over just a few hours, according to Louis W. Uccellini, who was director of the National Weather Service from 2013 until 2022.
“It’s pretty hard to forecast for these kinds of rainfall rates,” Dr. Uccellini said. He said that climate change was making extreme rainfall events more frequent and severe, and that more research was needed so that the Weather Service could better forecast those events.
An equally important question, he added, was how the Weather Service was coordinating with local emergency managers to act on those warnings as they came in.
“You have to have a response mechanism that involves local officials,” Dr. Uccellini said. “It involves a relationship with the emergency management community, at every level.”
But that requires having staff members in those positions, he said.
The tragedy began to unfold in the early hours of July 4, when more than 10 inches of rain fell in some areas northwest of San Antonio, including in Kerr County, where more than 850 people were evacuated by rescuers. As of Saturday evening, 27 girls from a Christian summer camp remained missing.
That night, Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, appeared to fault the Weather Service, noting that forecasters on Wednesday had predicted as much as six to eight inches of rain in the region. “The amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of those forecasts,” he said at a news conference with Gov. Greg Abbott.
But what makes flash floods so hazardous is their ability to strike quickly, with limited warning. Around midnight on Thursday, the San Angelo and San Antonio weather offices put out their first flash flood warnings, urging people to “move immediately to higher ground.” The office sent out additional flash flood warnings through the night, expanding the area of danger.
It is not clear what steps local officials took to act on those warnings. A spokesman for the Kerr County emergency management department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The amount of rain that fell Friday morning was hard for the Weather Service to anticipate, with reports in some areas of 15 inches over just a few hours, according to Louis W. Uccellini, who was director of the National Weather Service from 2013 until 2022.
“It’s pretty hard to forecast for these kinds of rainfall rates,” Dr. Uccellini said. He said that climate change was making extreme rainfall events more frequent and severe, and that more research was needed so that the Weather Service could better forecast those events.
An equally important question, he added, was how the Weather Service was coordinating with local emergency managers to act on those warnings as they came in.
“You have to have a response mechanism that involves local officials,” Dr. Uccellini said. “It involves a relationship with the emergency management community, at every level.”
But that requires having staff members in those positions, he said.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
The National Weather Service’s San Angelo office, which is responsible for some of the areas hit hardest by Friday’s flooding, was missing a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster and meteorologist in charge, according to Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, the union that represents Weather Service workers.
The Weather Service’s nearby San Antonio office, which covers other areas hit by the floods, also had significant vacancies, including a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer, Mr. Fahy said. Staff members in those positions are meant to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.
John Sokich, who until January was director of congressional affairs for the National Weather Service, said those unfilled positions made it harder to coordinate with local officials because each Weather Service office works as a team. “Reduced staffing puts that in jeopardy,” he said.
Last month, despite a government hiring freeze, the Weather Service announced a plan to hire 126 people in positions around the country, in what Ms. Cei, the agency’s spokeswoman, described as an effort to “stabilize” the department. As of this week, those jobs had not been posted in the federal government’s hiring portal.
Mr. Sokich said that the local Weather Service offices appeared to have sent out the correct warnings. He said the challengewas getting people to receive those warnings, and then take action.
Typically, Mr. Sokich said, the Weather Service will send an official to meet regularly with local emergency managers for what are called “tabletop operations” — planning ahead of time for what to do in case of a flash flood or other major weather disaster.
But the Trump administration’s pursuit of fewer staff members means remaining employees have less time to spend coordinating with local officials, he said.
The Trump administration has also put strict limits on new hires at the Weather Service, Mr. Sokich said. So unlike during previous administrations, when these vacancies could have quickly been filled, the agency now has fewer options.
The Trump administration also froze spending on travel, he added, making it even harder for Weather Service staff members to meet with their state and local counterparts.
That does not mean there is not room for cuts at the Weather Service, Mr. Sokich said. “But you need to do them deliberately and thoughtfully,” he said.
The Weather Service’s nearby San Antonio office, which covers other areas hit by the floods, also had significant vacancies, including a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer, Mr. Fahy said. Staff members in those positions are meant to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.
John Sokich, who until January was director of congressional affairs for the National Weather Service, said those unfilled positions made it harder to coordinate with local officials because each Weather Service office works as a team. “Reduced staffing puts that in jeopardy,” he said.
Last month, despite a government hiring freeze, the Weather Service announced a plan to hire 126 people in positions around the country, in what Ms. Cei, the agency’s spokeswoman, described as an effort to “stabilize” the department. As of this week, those jobs had not been posted in the federal government’s hiring portal.
Mr. Sokich said that the local Weather Service offices appeared to have sent out the correct warnings. He said the challengewas getting people to receive those warnings, and then take action.
Typically, Mr. Sokich said, the Weather Service will send an official to meet regularly with local emergency managers for what are called “tabletop operations” — planning ahead of time for what to do in case of a flash flood or other major weather disaster.
But the Trump administration’s pursuit of fewer staff members means remaining employees have less time to spend coordinating with local officials, he said.
The Trump administration has also put strict limits on new hires at the Weather Service, Mr. Sokich said. So unlike during previous administrations, when these vacancies could have quickly been filled, the agency now has fewer options.
The Trump administration also froze spending on travel, he added, making it even harder for Weather Service staff members to meet with their state and local counterparts.
That does not mean there is not room for cuts at the Weather Service, Mr. Sokich said. “But you need to do them deliberately and thoughtfully,” he said.