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

As the deadly floodwaters in parts of central Texas recede, there are growing questions about how the catastrophic rainfall seemingly caught the area by surprise. Some local officials say the National Weather Service underestimated the extreme rain but the agency says an initial flood watch was issued Thursday afternoon.

The Trump administration pushed back Sunday on criticism of the National Weather Service's initial forecasting and its staffing levels ahead Central Texas' catastrophic flooding. The big picture: The storm that's killed at least 80 people brought federal cuts to NOAA's NWS under scrutiny after it emerged that two Texas NWS offices were missing key staff at the time,