After Texas floods, the role of the federal government is once again in question
President Trump reportedly wants to abolish FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and shift the responsibility and costs of disaster response to states. In Texas, following the deadly floods of recent days, this process already appears to be underway, according to English-language media.
At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, July 8, President Trump said that FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, “rapidly deployed personnel to central Texas” after catastrophic and particularly deadly flooding hit the region . The latest, still preliminary, death toll stands at at least 111 and 173 missing, reports the New York Times .
But FEMA was “delayed in activating some teams responsible for coordinating response and search and rescue operations,” the newspaper said, speaking with current and former FEMA officials and disaster experts. They said the “scale of destruction in Texas, the number of missing people, and the complexity of the response should normally have prompted a larger and faster deployment” by the federal agency .
FEMA said it had sent about 70 search and rescue personnel to Kerr County, which was particularly hard hit by flooding, and had dispatched “about 10 other personnel to Austin to help manage and coordinate the response on the ground.” Another unit of about 40 people was placed on standby.
Courrier International
