Monday, July 14, 2025 – What the Texas flash floods teach us about emergency preparedness

For nearly a decade, state and local officials disacussed how to avoid fatalities, injuries, and property damage in the Guadalupe River valley in Texas. They failed to secure funds for a public warning siren. The flood killed more than 120 people and at least 160 are missing. Earlier this year, after numerous warnings by inspectors, a levee in Oregon gave way, damaging more than 950 homes, including those of the Burns Paiute Tribe. And on the Navajo Nation, notification was key to helping hundreds of residents evacuate as the Oak Ridge fire consumed more than 11,000 acres. We’ll hear about those and emergency plans by some other tribes aimed at keeping threats from becoming human tragedies.

GUESTS

Donovan Quintero (Diné), freelance reporter with the Navajo Times

Nelson Andrews Jr. (Mashpee Wampanoag), former tribal councilman, owner of Red Turtle Consulting LLC and CEO of American Indian Relief

Bodie Shaw (Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs), former deputy regional director for the Northwest Region of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and former national wildland fire director for BIA

Suzanne Settle, emergency services and resiliency director for the Burns Paiute

 

Break 1 Music: Healing Song (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album)

Break 2 Music: Long Black Cadillac (song) Tribz (artist)