In the five months since Trump chose Neil Jacobs as NOAA administrator, hundreds of NOAA scientists and meteorologists have left the agency through a combination of firings, buyouts and retirements.

Experts said the NWS did a good job warning about the flooding, but questions remain about whether the cuts played a role.

On Sunday, while taking questions from reporters, Trump claimed that he had difficulty hearing a reporter who had started asking a question about cuts to the NWS. “Democrats are blaming your federal cuts for the deaths over in Texas,” the reporter began her question to Trump, shouting loud enough to be heard.