OPINION:
More than 100 people died in the recent flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country. After hours of torrential downpours Friday, the waters of the Guadalupe River surged 30 feet in a torrent that swept away everything in its path, including a Christian summer camp located along the river and a nearby creek.
Capitalizing on the tragedy, former Vice President Al Gore chimed in to peddle his special brand of alarmism. He insisted on X that families are at a “heightened risk when climate-fueled extreme weather is rapidly getting worse.”
This is poppycock, as flooding is common to this region. The U.S. Geological Survey’s precise river level measurements for the area go back to 1996, and they show the river’s peaks have grown less extreme in the past 30 years. Friday’s monumental storm created the only exception. It was almost, but not quite, a record-breaker.
In 1869, the river topped 40 feet, causing widespread devastation long before automobiles or jet-powered airliners were around to take the rap for the catastrophe. In 1987, the inundation that followed a 30-foot rise took the lives of 10 teenagers. Back then, the National Weather Service (NWS) offered an advisory at 1 a.m. telling the public to be “alert for possible heavy rain and flash flooding.”
Last Friday, many locals were caught off-guard, as the thunderstorms were far more intense than expected. ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos blamed Donald Trump for the “significant staffing shortfalls to the National Weather Service’s offices” that meant residents had no notice of the impending disaster.
Except they were warned. The NWS released an urgent alert at 1 a.m., recommending action to prepare for “life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.” Throughout the afternoon Thursday, messages went out about the heightened flash flooding potential. The agency even called in additional personnel, just like it did in the 1980s.
Undeterred by facts, media mogul Michael Bloomberg published an op-ed faulting the president because he “erased the words ‘climate change’ — and critical climate data and information — from government websites.” He also repeated the progressive mantra that mankind’s prosperity is creating “more frequent extreme weather.”
Of course, Mr. Bloomberg is only referring to your prosperity, not his. With a fleet of three private jets always on call, this climate warrior is free to shuttle his friends and associates to any exotic destination around the globe, such as The Bahamas, Switzerland and Greece. According to Celebrity Jet Tracker, his planes even make the short trek from New York City to New Jersey, lest his crusade for climate equity be delayed by traffic jams.
These deep-pocketed partisans are ever-ready to push whatever narrative keeps their jets fueled and their mansions fully staffed with servants. Mr. Gore created books and movies proclaiming that we’ve reached a climate “tipping point,” securing him an Oscar, a Nobel Peace Prize and several diesel truckloads full of cash.
Mr. Bloomberg has invested more than a billion dollars of his personal wealth pushing inefficient sources of “clean energy” and campaigning to ban affordable competition to windmills and solar panels.
While Mr. Stephanopoulos may not be a Bloomberg-level plutocrat, he does collect mansions as he advocates for any policy that advances Democratic Party interests. The public shouldn’t be fooled into crediting the dire claims of activists whose lifestyle proves they don’t believe what they’re saying, either.
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