Amid the Lone Star State's historic floods, the Trump administration is retreating from disaster preparedness.

Twice, the Texas Division of Emergency Management turned down Kerr County's requests for money to improve flood warnings.

In the Austin area, 12 people are still missing and 16 are known to have perished after rain swept away homes along rivers and creeks.

Then, colliding with another soggy system sliding north off the Pacific, the storm wobbled and its clouds tipped, waterboarding south central Texas with an extraordinary 20 inches of rain. In the predawn blackness,

Flash floods surged through in the middle of the night, but many local officials appeared unaware of the unfolding catastrophe, initially leaving people near the river on their own.

In the days after the devastating flood that killed dozens in Central Texas, local officials have deflected direct questions about preparations and warnings in advance of the storm that struck July Fo

Over 35,000 signed a petition urging Kerr County to install flood warning sirens after flash flooding killed at least 100 people on July 4.

Kerr County, Texas, is experiencing severe floods with a death toll of 95 and 161 missing, prompting extensive search and rescue efforts.