Floods, lies, and lost lives in Texas point to a week of American failure, writes Simon Marks

Last Friday, while Americans celebrated Independence Day, a wall of rain swept through the Texas Hill Country, unleashing devastating floods in one of the state’s most beloved summer destinations. At least 120 lives have been lost; 170 people are still missing.

But while floodwaters recede, questions about preparedness and accountability only rise.

Among the most harrowing scenes: children at Camp La Junta forced to climb rafters at 4am to escape rapidly rising waters. Survivors like 14-year-old Ruffin Boyett and his younger brother Piers were lucky. Others were not.

Texas Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd insists the National Weather Service (NWS) did not predict the scale of the disaster. But it's what happened before the forecast that deserves scrutiny. Texas’ two main NWS offices, in Houston and San Antonio, are operating with gaping staff shortages due to cuts implemented by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency—an Elon Musk-led initiative under Donald Trump’s presidency. In San Antonio, the man tasked with warning coordination left his post weeks ago, and no one was hired to replace him.

Yet when asked if these vacancies played a role in the catastrophe, Trump deflected entirely—blaming Biden, while Texas Governor Greg Abbott offered a football metaphor. “Winners don’t look for blame,” he said, as if holding government accountable were somehow unmanly.

But the cost of political machismo is now being counted in body bags.

Elsewhere, another disaster is quietly brewing. The United States has lost its measles-free status. Cases are at their highest in 25 years. Pediatrician and Senate candidate Dr. Annie Andrews called it a “five-alarm fire”—blaming anti-vaccine conspiracist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now bizarrely leading the Department of Health, for gutting the vaccine advisory board.

And then, the Epstein scandal re-emerged. In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed Epstein’s client list was sitting on her desk. This week, the DOJ declared no such list exists. The reversal came after Elon Musk accused Trump himself of being on that very list—raising the spectre of a cover-up at the highest levels.

Yet when pressed, Trump dismissed it all. “This creep? Epstein? Why are you even asking?” he snapped, as if transparency were a sideshow.

But you cannot govern by conspiracy alone. Sooner or later, the truth demands answers.

And that’s the tragedy. In a week of immense human loss and eroding public trust, America’s leaders seem more focused on optics than on doing their jobs: keeping people safe.

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