FEMA Failure: Asking Evil Questions

When a reporter dared to ask Trump about failures in warning and response to the Kerr County floods, Trump called him an evil person for even asking such a question. The failures, however, are as undeniable as the disaster.

FEMA search and rescue deployment delayed until THREE DAYS after the flood–because Kristi Noem did not authorize deployment. Phone calls from flood victims seeking emergency assistance went unanswered—because Kristi Noem did not renew the contracts for call centers. This is FEMA under Trump and Noem.  

But the blame for political refusal to protect people doesn’t stop with FEMA. In important ways, FEMA is after-the-fact response, which would not have saved lives during the flood. While the National Weather Service predicted the downpours and warned of flooding, those warnings did not get communicated down the line to the people in immediate danger.

Kerr County officials failed to protect residents. The Washington Post traces that failure in devastating and horrifying detail: 

“The Texas county where nearly 100 people were killed and more than 160 remain missing had the technology to turn every cellphone in the river valley into a blaring alarm, but local officials did not do so before or during the early-morning hours of July 4 as river levels rose to record heights, inundating campsites and homes, a Washington Post examination found. …

“[E]ven as a federal meteorologist warned of deteriorating conditions and catastrophic risk, county officials did not activate a more powerful notification tool they had previously used to warn of potential flooding.” 

Time after time, either the State of Texas or Kerr County officials failed or refused to install warning systems to protect residents from weather disasters. The Texas Tribune traces decades of missed chances, including ARPA funding in 2021. 

Now the Trump administration is canceling funding for flood protection, mitigation, or warning systems. 

“Given that large flood projects can cost tens of millions of dollars, FEMA’s new funding programs over the last five years were a game changer for many communities. They marked a key shift for the agency: Instead of just paying for damage from disasters after the fact, helping communities become more resilient before disasters occur could save lives and reduce damage and costs.

“Now, the Trump administration has canceled the $4.6 billion program, known as Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC). The cancellation includes grants that were already awarded to communities across the country. Other funding specifically for flood projects, under the Flood Mitigation Assistance program, has been frozen.”