Ted Cruz Calling for a 'Better System' in Wake of Texas Floods Met With Backlash Online: 'He Helped Defund It'

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is being ridiculed after he called for a "better system" to help Texans with disaster preparedness after the Trump administration slashed funding for several weather forecasting agencies.

During an appearance on Fox News Monday morning, Cruz stated that "something went wrong" in regards to how locals were warned about the rising floodwaters. Dozens have been reported dead as a result of the flash floods that hit central Texas Friday morning.

"There's no doubt afterwards that we're going to have a serious retrospective — as you do with any disaster — and say 'OK, what could've been done differently to prevent this disaster?'" Cruz said.

"Look, the fact that you have girls asleep in their cabins when the floodwaters are rising, something went wrong there. We've got to fix that and have a better system of warning to get kids out of harm's way," he continued.

Cruz was referring to the flooding of Camp Mystic, a girls summer camp that was flooded by the nearby Guadalupe River. At least 27 campers and counselors have died as a result of the flooding, and another 10 girls and one counselor remain missing.

The senator said Texas officials are keeping the girls in "our prayers," hoping they will be found alive.

However, Cruz's words were met with backlash online after several users pointed out that the Trump administration, supported by the Republican senator, slashed funding and cut staffing at agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Weather Service (NWS) earlier this year.

"We have a system. He helped to defund it," one user declared. Another chided, "Yeah cutting back NOAA is 'something went wrong' very wrong."

"Ted voted to gut services and he knows it," one user claimed. Another user wrote sarcastically, "If only we had some kind of, I don't know, National Weather Service. And we gave it all the funding it needed!"

About 600 NWS employees have been laid off so far this year, leaving some offices with tighter staffing or even limited coverage. Despite this, NWS has defended the warnings it issued prior to the flash foods, though noted that about 1 to 2 more inches of rain fell than initially anticipated, NBC News reported.