This Isn’t “Climate Change.” It’s Climate Breakdown!

Real Mom Talk
Written By Rosa Ortiz Lane

As the weather has always changed, the term "climate change" has never resonated with me. Various factors, such as sunlight, moisture, and the planet's rotation, constantly affect the Earth's atmosphere. Temperature, precipitation, and wind patterns fluctuate continuously as a result of these influences. But what? What hit Hunt, Texas, on July 4, 2025, wasn’t just a flood. It was apocalyptic, it was "Climate Disruption." A human-fueled disaster of the kind no system in the world was built to handle.

This flood shook our foundations—literally and spiritually.

The chaos broke through the natural order—an eruption of a cataclysm that shook the foundations of daily life. In Hunt, Texas, the sudden, explosive flash flood was just that:

  • It came without mercy.

  • It was unstoppable.

  • It wasn’t just water rising—it was destruction.
This storm tore through nature and man-made structures alike. 

I avoid the news. But after I shared a quick post on Facebook last weekend, my feed filled with stories about the Texas floods. I wanted to look away, but something told me I needed to learn more.

Because I care deeply about nature. Because I believe in sustainability. And because this story isn’t just about a river rising — it’s about who gets left behind when it does.

So, I started digging, reading, and trying to understand what had happened. What I found was devastating, humbling, and impossible to ignore.

🕒 The Unthinkable: 26 Feet in 45 Minutes

That’s about 7 inches of rushing water per minute — enough to rip out bridges, flood entire camps, uproot trees, and even tear concrete from foundations like it was paper.

And it happened before dawn.

People were sleeping. Some got alerts on their phones, but didn’t wake up. Others woke up too late by the noise outside. But the water was already inside.

📱 The Warning Breakdown: Cell Towers Down, No Local Alerts

“This Is a Wake-Up Call”: What the Flood Revealed About Our Emergency Infrastructure. It showed the falling judgment from many angles influenced by many reasons—it showed the breakdown of what we trusted:

  • Cell towers

  • Sirens

  • Systems

  • Technology

All failed under the weight of what hit. These modern "stars" we rely on for safety and guidance… fell or were not in place.

As reported across multiple news outlets, the flood in Texas exposed more than rising waters — it revealed a dangerous gap in our emergency preparedness:

  • “With cell towers down and power out, communication was almost impossible.” — KBTX

  • Spotty cellphone service coverage—ABC10 News

  • “Kerr County did not have a flood detection system and outdoor emergency sirens common in other parts of the country.”—ABC10 News

  • 911 was unreachable. “But The Texas Newsroom has learned that not only does the county have a mass-alert system for public emergencies, first responders asked that it be triggered early Friday morning.” —Texas Public Radio

We’ve grown so dependent on smartphones that we’ve forgotten: not everything can be fixed with the tap of a screen. When infrastructure fails, when alerts don’t go through, when power and towers are down — who do we become? And who gets left behind?

But here’s the deeper problem: cell service in this area was already unreliable, long before floodwaters ever hit. According to a Houston Chronicle investigation, many residents and visitors couldn’t receive timely alerts due to limited cell service and unfamiliar warning systems during the July 4 disaster (Houston Chronicle). Many people were vacationing, so they were not familiar with the flash floods in the area either.

Local anecdotes back this up: one commenter familiar with the region described service near the campgrounds as “pretty bad,” with others noting that “cell service is unreliable because of the hills” (Reddit thread on r/texas).

If we know our infrastructure has cracks — especially in rural and hill country communities — the real question is: what will we do next?

✍️ When First Responders Couldn’t Reach Them, the Community Did

Locals stepped in (AP News, WKOW 27, People, MySanAntonio, LMT Online):

  • Hunters, ranchers, and neighbors launched their rescue missions (AP News).

  • “At Camp Mystic, a quick-thinking security guard was putting campers on mattresses to help them ride out the rising waters (WKOW 27).”

  • 7-year-old Brock and his brother climbed into the cabin rafters to survive (People).

  • Coast Guard rookie Scott Ruskan rescued 165 lives in his first mission (MySanAntonio).

  • Laredo residents mobilized emergency supplies within hours (LMT Online).

🌐 Even the Best Systems Fell Short

Other nations have advanced alert systems:

  • 🇯🇵 Japan: Satellite-linked sirens + J-Alert

  • 🇩🇪 Germany: Cell broadcast + revamped siren networks

  • 🇦🇺 Australia: Voice-call evacuation apps

But none of them have faced this:

A flood rising about 0.58 feet per minute, destroying infrastructure in under an hour.

⚠️ This Is Climate Breakdown

Climate science is clear: warmer air holds more moisture, which makes extreme rainstorms and flash floods more likely and intense.

  • Rain falls faster
    A Texas-based climate scientist noted that Hill Country was hit with four months of rain in just four hours, overwhelming rivers in record time (Wikipedia, TIME).

  • Rivers rise quicker
    The overall water cycle is accelerating: evaporation and precipitation rates have sharply increased, amplifying flood risks (The Times).

  • Floods strike harder
    Flood-related deaths in the U.S. have spiked alongside a jump in heavy rainfall, now the leading killer in many storm events (Wikipedia, Washington Post).

We can’t fix what we won’t face. This isn’t just "climate change." This is the breakdown of everything we once trusted would hold: weather systems, emergency alerts, and our sense of time to act.: our weather patterns, our alert systems, and our sense of time.

💥 If We Want to Blame Someone…

It’s natural to look for someone to blame. It helps us process pain. But blame doesn’t build bridges. Understanding does.

So, if we want to ask who contributed to this disaster…

👉 It starts with us. You. Me.

How do we play a role?

🔹 1. Plastic waste

🔹 2. Fast fashion

  • The fashion industry contributes about 2% of global GHG emissions, with fast fashion accelerating this footprint through energy-intensive production, synthetic fibers, long transport, and landfill disposal (Wikipedia).

  • Around 80 billion clothing items are consumed yearly, yet <1% is recycled, and 85% of U.S. clothes are sent to landfills (Wikipedia).

🔹 3. Fossil-fueled delivery systems

  • Transport (road, air, sea), powered mainly by fossil fuels, accounts for ~16% of global CO₂ emissions. Delivery vehicles and supply chains add heavily to this total (Wikipedia).

  • The combustion of fuels in trucks, ships, and planes, and the energy for packaging and logistics, amplify emissions.

  • 🔹 4. Idling cars & personal convenience

  • Widespread personal vehicle use—from commuting to idling—makes transportation a significant global warming driver (≈ 16–17% of global CO₂ emissions).

  • Idling vehicles emit CO₂ continuously, even when stationary.

  • 🔹 5. Concrete and paved surfaces

  • Urban concrete and asphalt contribute to the urban heat island effect, raising city temperatures.

  • This forces up air-conditioning use, therefore increasing energy consumption and emissions(Wikipedia).

  • Paved areas also exacerbate stormwater runoff, reducing natural water absorption and carbon-sequestering vegetation.

🔹 6. Coffee & tobacco industries

  • The EU Deforestation Regulation (effective end-2024) now targets coffee linked to deforestation, highlighting how coffee production leads to forest loss and associated carbon emissions (AP News).

  • Deforestation for crops like coffee and tobacco is responsible for roughly 11% of global GHG emissions.

  • These commodities also have high water requirements and carbon-intensive processing and transport.

All of these and many more common practices contribute to global warming and climate instability. And here’s what that warming does:

🌡️ Warmer air holds more moisture
🌊 Storms dump more rain
🚨 Rain falls faster
🌧️ Rivers rise quicker
🌩️ Floods strike harder

This isn’t about shame. It’s about responsibility. We didn’t build this system, but we can choose what to do now.

🤝 At Route T21, We Fight for the People Left Behind

We advocate for emergency solutions that truly include everyone:

✅ Real-time, gauge-triggered flood alerts
✅ Multi-channel warnings—sirens, lights, sounds, texts, and satellite-based alerts
✅ Familiarity between first responders and individuals with disabilities
✅ Systems that work when nature doesn’t wait
✅ Disability-inclusive emergency drills

Satellite-based alert systems aren’t just a glimpse of the future—they’re already here, and they’re becoming essential tools for disaster preparedness, especially in remote or high-risk areas. Here’s a quick breakdown:

  • NOAA’s GOES Satellite Network (USA): Powers National Weather Service forecasts, enabling faster, more accurate alerts via news and agencies.

  • GNSS-Based Warning Systems (Global): Used in countries like Japan to broadcast earthquake and tsunami alerts directly to mobile devices.

  • Inmarsat & Iridium: Satellite networks that keep emergency responders connected when cellular systems fail.

  • Apple Emergency SOS via Satellite: Allows individuals to send distress messages when off-grid—a powerful example of how consumer tech can close communication gaps in disasters.

These tools are no longer luxuries—they’re lifesaving necessities. And the good news? Access to satellite data is becoming more affordable and widespread.

Case in point: During the Texas floods, the family safety app Life360 helped save a man’s life when his satellite-tracked location allowed local police to reach him by boat (ABC News Life).

As these technologies become integrated into everyday devices, we move closer to making emergency communication systems accessible to everyone, not just those with expensive or specialized gear. But they must be designed with accessibility in mind for people with disabilities, rural families, and communities in low-signal zones.

I already contacted our local fire department via email because I want a plan in place for my son, Tommy, who lives with multiple disabilities. I’ve registered our address through a system our county has in conjunction with our city, so that first responders know there’s someone here who may not respond typically in an emergency. And I’ll be reaching out to other local first responders because my son matters, because he is priceless, and I will do everything in my power to protect him.

Because this isn’t just about preparing for floods or fires—
It’s about who we choose to show up for when disaster strikes.

🙏 A Note on Faith and Suffering

What happened in Texas tested everything—our infrastructure, our communities, our hearts. In Texas, the river itself became deadly:

  • Waters that once brought life, recreation, and joy at summer camps… now symbolize trauma.

  • Parents saw their children swept away.

  • Communities faced the bitter truth that even nature could betray them.

But what did we see in the aftermath? That’s faith in action.

People in Texas are carrying a deep grief and countless questions. They may lie awake at night wondering what if. But many in Texas still believe. And they show it—not just with words, but with courage, compassion, and the choice to rebuild.

Suffering doesn’t take away faith. It strengthens it.

We may not control the storm. But we do control what we do today.

And what we do today can shape how we survive tomorrow.

We can’t stop the rain.
But we can choose how we respond.
And that choice? It starts with us.

#RouteT21 #ClimateBreakdown #TexasFlood2025 #YouCantStopTheRain #EcoInclusion #DisabilityJustice #BuildBetter #FlashFloodAlley #HoldThemInYourHeart #ClimateAccountability #InclusivePreparedness #AdaptToSurvive #EveryChoiceMatters

_______

Photo of Tommy, dressed as a firefighter: He was around 8 or 9 years old. Around the same age as the girls lost at Camp Mystic. Vulnerable then, still vulnerable now. Children with disabilities are often invisible in climate planning—but they deserve to be protected, included, and seen. 🧡🔥🌎 #ClimateJustice #DisabilityInclusion #RouteT21 #EmergencyPreparedness 

Rosa Ortiz Lane https://www.routet21.com
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From Floor to Freedom: Tommy's home workouts & mobility training