Disaster Overview - At least 129 people are confirmed dead across six counties in central Texas due to severe flooding, with 166 still missing [1] - The flooding is described as the deadliest in more than a century for the affected area [1] FEMA & Government Response - Questions are raised regarding the future of FEMA and the administration's response to the flooding [2] - FEMA did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance line after the floods [3] - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary requires personal approval for all FEMA spending over $100,000 [4][10] - FEMA's deployment of urban search and rescue teams was delayed by more than 72 hours after the flooding began [4] - Kirk County officials did not utilize FEMA's integrated public alert and warning system to send warnings to mobile phones [5] Funding & Resource Allocation - The state of Texas has a $20 billion surplus, but Republicans have refused to allocate funds to rural Texas for emergency management [16] - A bill for emergency management was killed by the lieutenant governor, indicating a lack of state investment in rural Texas [9] - The Texas Department of Emergency Management deemed the affected county ineligible for specific FEMA grants [15] Early Warning Systems - The most serious alerts from the National Weather Service came too late [7] - Requests for flood early warning systems and federal funding have been rejected by the Texas legislature since 2016 [13] - The community has been asking for water gauges for some time, but they have not been provided [16] Flood Map Issues - FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from the 100-year flood map before expansion [18] - Areas designated as special flood hazard areas have a 1% chance of inundation in any given year [19]
Texas state sen. blasts ‘woefully pathetic’ flood response from Trump admin.
MSNBC·2025-07-12 17:30