📰 “They Said They Wanted to Protect Our Children — But Where Was the Real Protection?”
- Paula Sadler
- Jul 8
- 10 min read
Tragic Loss of Life could have been prevented-Religious Fanaticism is the cause of the loss of life.
🧭 How This Article Came to Be
As I watched the heartbreaking news unfold in Texas, something struck me: most of the flood victims were young Christian girls, attending summer camp in the Hill Country.
And yet, these were the same children that conservative lawmakers claim to defend.
They say they want to “protect our children” — from books, from pronouns, from rainbow flags. But where was the protection when it actually mattered?
This article is the result of that question. It explores how misplaced priorities, defunded safety systems, and political theater cost lives — and how programs like Project 2025 could make future disasters even worse.
💔 A Preventable Tragedy
Between July 4–7, 2025, Central Texas experienced catastrophic flash floods, killing over 109 people, including 87 at Camp Mystic in Kerr County. These were not abstract statistics — these were real daughters, beloved friends, young girls attending Bible camp.
How did it happen?
The Guadalupe River rose over 30 feet in just two hours.
Sirens never sounded.
River gauges failed due to disrepair.
Text alerts were too little, too late.
Kerr County had requested funding for years to improve warning systems. The state said no. Instead, politicians passed bills to force the Ten Commandments into classrooms and ban LGBTQ student clubs.
🌊 Spiritual Reflection: When the River Called Guadalupe Weeps
There is a river in Texas called Guadalupe — a name that means “valley of the river of black stones,” or, as some believe, “river of the wolf.” But more importantly, it is the name of the Mother of Mercy herself: Our Lady of Guadalupe — the sacred protector of the poor, the brown-skinned Madonna, the divine mother who appeared not to kings or priests, but to a humble peasant, Juan Diego.
She is the one who said:
“Am I not here, I who am your mother?”
And yet…This river — bearing her name — has also been a place of devastation. A place where floodwaters rose, and innocent lives were lost. A place where families have mourned, children have been taken too soon, and what should be life-giving has become a site of sorrow.
🌧️ How do we understand this?
Water is sacred. Water is the source of life. Water is how we begin — in the womb, in ritual, in baptism, in birth. But water also floods. It overwhelms. It erases. It comes without permission. It does not ask if we are ready.
Throughout the ages, water has symbolized both blessing and reckoning. Floods in scripture meant judgment and rebirth. Floods in dreams mean overwhelm, surrender, and deep transformation.
So what does it mean when the Guadalupe River floods?
It means we must pay attention.
🕊️ The Sacred Irony
The river is named after the divine protector of children and the oppressed. And yet it becomes the site of their loss. This is not coincidence. It is a sign.
A sign that we are out of alignment. A sign that we have forgotten the sacredness of the Earth. That we have failed to honor the bodies, the lives, and the rivers that give us life.
The Virgin weeps — not because she failed —but because we failed to listen.
We built near the sacred and forgot it was sacred. We assumed control of nature without reverence. We walked past the water and forgot it is alive. We uttered her name and forgot what it meant.
🌈 A Spiritual Message for Now
The tragedy of the Guadalupe River is not only a moment of grief —It is a mirror.
A mirror to our neglect. A mirror to the way we take for granted what is holy. A mirror to the urgency of compassion.
In this moment, as we remember those lost —those children, those families, those dreams —we also remember what Guadalupe truly means:
She who watches over us
She who holds the brown and the broken
She who brings light after darkness
She who rises from stone and speaks from water
🌺 Closing Affirmation
I honor the water. I remember the sacred name. I hold the names of the lost in my heart. I will no longer walk past the river unaware. I will listen when the waters rise. I will protect the innocent — and remember that I, too, am sacred.
📉 What Could Have Saved Them
Here’s what experts say could have prevented much of this loss:
✅ Functional flood gauges and real-time warning systems
✅ Emergency sirens across camps and rural areas
✅ Adequate FEMA, NOAA, and National Weather Service (NWS) funding
✅ Climate-resilient infrastructure and science-based zoning
✅ Public safety prioritized over political culture wars
Instead, Texas legislators and national leaders chose symbols over safety.
🔥 Project 2025: Cutting What Keeps Us Safe
The Project 2025 agenda, supported by Donald Trump and right-wing think tanks, outlines a dramatic overhaul of federal agencies — and it’s already happening:
❌ NOAA and NWS budgets slashed, with key forecasting centers closed
❌ Climate change removed from emergency planning
❌ FEMA powers weakened in favor of “state sovereignty”
❌ Local disaster response left underfunded and uncoordinated
Even as Texas burned and flooded, Republican leaders pushed forward with gutting agencies meant to warn and protect us.
💵 Meanwhile… Military Spending Soars
In 2025 alone:
The Department of Defense received $895 billion, a 13.4% increase over the previous year
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” added another $150 billion
By 2026, the military budget is projected to hit $962 billion — nearly a trillion dollars, while flood-prone towns beg for emergency sirens
Imagine what a fraction of that money could do:
Flood prevention systems in every county
Fully staffed weather forecasting teams
Emergency drills in every rural school and camp
Safe evacuation routes for vulnerable families
Instead, that money is being funneled to weapons, warships, and ideological warfare — not to the very real wars against fire, flood, and famine happening on American soil.
🧠 A Moral Reckoning
“If they spent more time funding these areas — rather than worrying about putting the Ten Commandments in every school or stopping LGBTQ youth groups or focusing on sports — this could have actually saved lives.”
This isn’t just a policy failure. This is a moral failure — of leadership, of priorities, and of basic human decency.
Young girls who went to Bible camp died in terror because the people in power didn’t invest in real protection.
They passed laws to “protect children” from drag queens —But they didn’t protect them from drowning.
They fought rainbow flags —But not rising floodwaters.
They banned books —But didn’t fund warning systems.
Texas fights for the right to carry a gun in church, in school, and even at the ballot box. But in the end, not a single firearm could protect those girls from the flood. What they needed wasn’t a weapon — it was a working siren, a functioning gauge, and a leadership that valued life over slogans.
🙏 What We Must Do
It is not too late. We can still act:
Restore full funding to FEMA, NOAA, and the NWS
Block Project 2025 from gutting public safety programs
Reinvest in flood mitigation, climate response, and emergency planning
Demand accountability from leaders who abandoned their own communities
✍️ Final Word
They said they wanted to protect our children.
Well — our children are dying. Not from books, flags, or diversity.
They are dying from floods, fires, and failures.
And the time to change course is now.
📎 Addendum: Who Is Responsible – And Who Must Be Held Accountable
The tragic loss of over 100 lives in the July 2025 Texas floods was not just a natural disaster — it was the result of avoidable policy failures, underfunded infrastructure, and political decisions made by specific individuals and governing bodies. This section identifies those responsible and outlines who we must look to for answers and action.
🛑 Blocked Legislation: House Bill 13 (Flood Warning Systems)
House Bill 13 would have established a statewide emergency alert council and provided $500 million in funding to local governments for sirens, flood warning systems, and real-time alerts. It passed the Texas House — but was blocked in the Texas Senate.
Key Individuals:
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R) – As Senate President, he had the power to move HB 13 forward but chose not to schedule it for a vote during the regular session.
Texas Senate Republican Leadership – Several GOP senators rejected the bill over cost concerns, despite bipartisan House support.
Rep. Wes Virdell (R–Brady/Kerr County) – Voted against HB 13 in the House due to the $500 million price tag. After the flood, in mid-July 2025, he said:
“I can tell you in hindsight, watching what it takes to deal with a disaster like this, my vote would probably be different now.”
⚠️ Slashed Federal Funding: Weather & Emergency Systems
A significant portion of the responsibility also falls on federal figures who reduced funding for the very systems that could have saved lives.
Key Individuals:
Senator Ted Cruz (R–TX) – Sponsored legislation that cut $150 million from NOAA’s forecasting and observation funds, and an additional $50 million from local climate and warning grants.
Donald Trump & the Project 2025 Team – Oversaw deep cuts to:
NOAA and the National Weather Service (NWS) – including staffing reductions (20–25%), lab closures, and modeling program shutdowns.
FEMA – including reduced capacity, staffing, and grant access.
Encouraged a shift of emergency management from federal to state-level control with weakened oversight and minimal funding.
🚧 Ignored Local Requests
Since 2018, Kerr County and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGRA) repeatedly requested state and federal support to:
Install modern river gauges
Deploy emergency sirens
Establish text alert systems
These requests were either delayed, denied, or unfunded by the Texas Legislature and state budget committees.
🛠️ Who Would Build & Manage These Systems?
Creating life-saving infrastructure involves coordinated effort from:
Local Authorities (Kerr County, UGRA): Planning, permitting, coordination
NOAA & NWS: Forecasting technology, risk modeling, data sharing
FEMA: Grant funding, hazard mitigation support
Texas State Government: Budget allocation, legislation, oversight
Private Engineering Firms: Installation of sirens, gauges, and communication systems
🧭 Historical Negligence (2018)
The systemic failures that led to this disaster did not begin in 2025. As far back as 2018, local officials were asking for help — and were repeatedly ignored by those in power.
Officials in Office During Early Flood Infrastructure Requests:
Governor Greg Abbott (R) – In office since 2015, received state-level requests from Kerr County and UGRA but did not prioritize flood alert infrastructure.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R) – Controlled the Texas Senate agenda in 2018; no record of action taken to fund warning systems.
Rep. Andrew Murr (R–District 53) – Represented Kerr County in the Texas House; took no legislative action to support sirens or gauges at the time.
Sen. Dawn Buckingham (R–District 24) – Represented the Kerr region in the Texas Senate; later became Texas Land Commissioner. No flood prevention legislation introduced.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R–U.S. House, District 21) – Chaired the House Science Committee until 2019. Known for climate denialism and blocking funding to NOAA and NWS programs critical to forecasting and early warnings.
These individuals helped set the stage for disaster by ignoring science, withholding funding, or failing to act on clear local requests.
✅ Summary of Responsibility
Area of Failure | Individuals or Bodies Responsible |
Rejected HB 13 | Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, TX Senate GOP, Rep. Wes Virdell |
Cut NOAA/NWS funding | Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump administration |
Weakened FEMA | Trump, Project 2025 architects |
Ignored local requests (2018–2025) | Gov. Abbott, TX Legislature, Rep. Murr, Sen. Buckingham |
Infrastructure deployment | Requires funding from state/federal, execution by local gov’t & engineers |
✍️ Final Word
The floods were not just a tragedy — they were a test of priorities. We now know who passed, and who failed. Let this be a call to action to demand accountability, restore funding, and ensure no child, no parent, no community is ever left unprotected again.
Reverend Paula Josephine Sadler
Founding Minister Universal Rainbow Faith Church
953 E Sahara Ave Ste E11A Las Vegas, NV 89104
7/8/2025
Governor Greg Abbott
Office of the Governor P.O. Box 12428Austin, TX 78711-2428Email: greg.abbott@gov.texas.gov
RE: Accountability and Policy Failures Contributing to the July 2025 Texas Flood Disaster
Dear Governor Abbott,
I am writing to you not only as a spiritual leader and resident of the United States, but as a transgender woman of faith, and the Founding Minister of Universal Rainbow Faith Church, whose ministry is rooted in truth, compassion, and the sacred responsibility to protect all life.
In light of the catastrophic flooding that struck Kerr County and the surrounding Central Texas region, I have enclosed a detailed article titled “They Said They Wanted to Protect Our Children — But Where Was the Real Protection?” along with an official addendum, “Who Is Responsible – And Who Must Be Held Accountable.” These documents outline the clear policy failures — legislative, administrative, and moral — that contributed to a disaster which could have been prevented.
Over 100 lives were lost. The vast majority were young Christian girls, attending a faith-based summer camp — the very demographic your administration has repeatedly claimed to defend. And yet, the basic warning systems that could have saved them — sirens, river gauges, alert infrastructure — were never installed, despite being requested as early as 2018 under your leadership.
The evidence is clear:
HB 13, which could have funded emergency warning systems statewide, was blocked in the Senate.
FEMA, NOAA, and NWS have been severely weakened, with your allies supporting cuts aligned with the Project 2025 agenda.
Local officials pleaded for help, and were ignored by the state.
As a minister, I must ask: What good is posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms if we fail the commandment to protect human life? What good is political power if we sacrifice our children to it?
I am calling on you to:
Acknowledge publicly the failures that led to this tragedy.
Advance or reintroduce legislation equivalent to HB 13 in the upcoming session.
Support restoration of FEMA, NOAA, and emergency preparedness funding, and resist further defunding under Project 2025.
Meet with families and local leaders in Kerr County to take moral and civic responsibility.
Governor Abbott, the floods were not only a natural disaster — they were a mirror. And what we do now will define what kind of leaders we are, what kind of people we are, and what kind of state Texas will become.
Let this be a turning point — toward truth, justice, and the kind of protection our communities truly need.
In sacred responsibility,
Rev. Paula Josephine Sadler
Founding Minister Universal Rainbow Faith Church
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