Former federal officials and outside experts have warned for months that President Donald Trump’s deep staffing cuts to the National Weather Service could endanger lives. After torrential rains and flash flooding struck Friday in the Texas Hill Country,

Some Democratic leaders are calling for an investigation into the National Weather Service to determine if the reported staffing shortages affected the forecast and response to the holiday weekend’s flash floods.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later began her briefing on the offensive, calling out those who've questioned whether federal cuts to the NWS impacted staffing levels or forecasting abilities as the tragedy unfolded.

Meteorologists are debunking conspiracy theories blaming cloud seeding for the deadly Central Texas floods over the Fourth of July weekend.

Rescuers searched the Guadalupe River for survivors of the Texas flash floods that killed more than 100 people over the July Fourth holiday weekend, with an unknown number of people still missing. The basin area was crowded with families and campers preparing to enjoy the holiday when pounding rain brought about catastrophic flash floods just before dawn Friday.