There are many ways in which this Independence Day was unlike any other. Most have been hashed out in social media posts and left-leaning news media outlets. But the most significant was the tragic flood in the Hill Country of central Texas, where torrential rain and tremendous flooding of the Guadalupe River has killed at least 79 people, more than 20 of whom were children visiting Camp Mystic.

Within hours of the initial flooding, Texas officials blamed cuts in the National Weather Service for the poor warning and the inaccuracy of the rain prediction which some Texas officials said did not convey the storm’s threat. In response to a condolence post on X by Vice President JD Vance, California Congressman Jack Kimble, a fellow Republican, also criticized the Trump administration’s gutting of the agency that many now consider underfunded.

Meanwhile, Georgia Republican Majorie Taylor Greene is introducing legislation to prevent cloud seeding and what she terms weather modification. She announced the proposal on X the day after the Hill Country flooding began, receiving support from at least one congressional colleague and ridicule from some Democrats.

The search for the missing continue down in counties along the Guadalupe, as the country eases back into news out of Washington.  There’s plenty of time and room for production-value politics to return to the spotlight. For now, the priority should continue to be searchlights in Kerr County, Texas.