Maps show how heavy rainfall and rocky terrain helped create the devastating Texas floods that have killed more than 120 people.

Q: Is it true that if President Donald Trump hadn’t defunded the National Weather Service, the death toll in the Texas flooding would have been far lower or nonexistent? A: The Trump administration did not defund the NWS but did reduce the staff by 600 people.

When a reporter asked Trump about concerns from Hill Country residents about the lack of warnings before the Guadalupe River’s rapid rise, the president sharply called the reporter “evil.”

NOAA's former leader points to staffing cuts and lack of key personnel as contributing factors in the mismanagement of recent catastrophic Texas flooding. (Scripps News)

Democrats criticize Trump's cuts to the National Weather Service and his approach to climate change after at least 59 people died in major Texas floods that occurred over the July 4th holiday.

Texas floods leave 120 dead, 170 missing; victims include campers & children as search efforts stretch into a seventh day. This live blog is now closed.

People usually only have hours of notice in advance. The disaster in Texas was a worst-case scenario.

President Trump wants to shutter the agency and shift responsibility and costs of emergency management to the states. In Texas, that process appears to already be underway.

US regulators reportedly altered official maps of flooding risks to remove many of the buildings at a camp in Texas where 27 children died in severe floods. Citing official records, the New York Times and Associated Press said maps by the Federal Emergency Management (Fema) in 2011 had initially considered the popular summer camp to be in high risk of flooding.