Texas Families Deserve Answers, Not Dismissive Sports Metaphors

Addressing Recent Comments Following the Deadly Central Texas Floods

July 11, 2025

The devastating flash floods that claimed at least 121 lives across Central Texas have left countless families grappling with unimaginable loss. As communities continue searching for over 170 missing individuals, including children from Camp Mystic and other affected areas, their families deserve compassionate leadership and honest answers about what happened and how similar future tragedies can be prevented.

Asked by a reporter if the governor would call for an inquiry into “who is to blame” for the tragedy, Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded, “You asked ‘Who’s to blame?’ Know this: That’s the word choice of losers.” He added, “Let me explain one thing about Texas. Texas, every square inch of our state, cares about football. . . . . And know this, every football team makes mistakes. The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who’s to blame. The championship teams are the ones that say, ‘Don’t worry about it, man. We got this. We’re gonna make sure that we go score again, that we’re going to win this game.’ The way winners talk is not to point fingers, they talk about solutions.”

Recent comments from Texas Governor Greg Abbott characterizing accountability questions about blame as “the word choice of losers” have deeply concerned those seeking answers about government preparedness and response. At Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C., we stand with every family affected by this tragedy and believe they deserve far better than deflection from their elected leaders during this time of profound grief.

Questions Families Deserve Answered

The families who have lost loved ones in these floods are not seeking to assign blame for political purposes. They are Texans who entrusted their government with fundamental responsibility for public safety and now deserve to understand whether systemic failures contributed to preventable deaths.

Some important questions that warrant thorough investigation include:

Regarding Emergency Preparedness:

• Who was responsible for the issuance of flood warnings?
• Were adequate flood control measures in place along known flood corridors like the Guadalupe River?
• Were warning systems properly funded, staffed, and maintained throughout the region?
• Did emergency protocols adequately address the known risks in flood-prone areas?

Regarding Emergency Response:

• Were flood warnings issued with appropriate urgency and clarity to all affected communities?
• Were evacuation procedures adequate and properly coordinated between state and local authorities?
• Were emergency resources deployed effectively to maximize life-saving potential?

Regarding Future Prevention:

• What specific governmental decisions or policies may have contributed to the loss of life?
• What systematic changes are necessary to prevent similar tragedies in the future?
• How can we ensure better protection for Texas families going forward?

These are not inappropriate inquiries, but rather the fundamental questions that citizens in a democratic society have the right to demand to be answered by their government.

Why Football Analogies Miss the Mark

While Texans indeed love football, Governor Abbott’s comparison of disaster response accountability to a football team who lost a game seeking to blame someone for mistakes made, fundamentally misses what’s at stake. In football, when teams suffer devastating losses due to poor performance, successful programs don’t dismiss analysis as “loser talk”—they conduct thorough reviews, analyze what went wrong, and make systematic changes to prevent future losses.

But here’s the critical difference that makes sports analogies inappropriate for this tragedy: In football, bad planning and execution leads merely to a loss on the scoreboard. In disaster preparedness and response, bad planning and execution leads to loss of life, loss of loved ones, loss of homes, and loss of everything that matters to real families.

As our partner Joseph Cammarata emphasizes, “Despite Governor Abbott’s remarks, this is not a game.  It is a necessary evaluation of whether the government fulfilled its duty to the public to protect them from harm.  If it did not, then there must be full and complete accountability.”

The Government’s Sacred Duty to Protect and to Be Held Accountable

When state and local governments assume responsibility for public safety—including flood control, emergency warning systems, and disaster response—they accept a fundamental duty to protect their citizens. This governmental responsibility includes:

• Maintaining adequate infrastructure to protect communities from known natural hazards
• Operating effective warning systems to alert citizens of imminent dangers
• Developing and implementing emergency response plans that prioritize saving lives
• Continuously evaluating and improving disaster preparedness based on evolving risks
• Taking responsibility when systems fail those they are meant to protect

When the government fails to meet its responsibility, it must be held accountable for the harms and losses it caused.

When the government fails to fulfill these responsibilities, seeking accountability is not unsportsmanlike behavior—it is the foundation of responsible governance in a civilized society.

Our Commitment to Texas Families

The 121 individuals who perished in these floods, including the children still missing from Camp Mystic, deserved every protection that competent government planning and response could provide. Their families deserve honest answers about whether governmental failures contributed to their losses.

At Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C., we believe that when government fails in its fundamental duty to protect citizens, those responsible must be held accountable. Not for political gain, not to assign blame for sport, but to ensure that preventable tragedies like this never happen again, and those who have suffered are fully and completely compensated.

If investigations reveal that state or local government failures contributed to preventable deaths—whether through inadequate flood control infrastructure, insufficient warning systems, or poor emergency response—we stand ready to seek full justice for affected families and advocate for the systemic reforms necessary to protect other Texans.

Moving Forward with Purpose and Accountability

Moving forward, families impacted by this tragedy deserve not only compassion but a rigorous investigation into the failures that led to it. Leadership in Texas must rise to both responsibilities—offering support while also confronting hard questions, not deflecting them.

Unlike a fumble in football, the loss of life cannot be recovered. When government planning and execution fail during disasters, the consequences are permanent and devastating for the individuals who died and the families left behind. These families deserve answers, accountability, and assurance that their loved ones’ deaths will lead to meaningful changes that protect other families.

---

For families affected by the Texas floods seeking confidential legal guidance, contact Joseph Cammarata at (202) 659-8600. Consultations are free, and we never charge fees unless we recover compensation for you.