Texas, FEMA and Kristi Noem
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The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency must release months-overdue funding notices for security grants that help cities, ports, synagogues and other entities prevent terrorist threats, Democratic Senator Andy Kim said in a letter sent to the Trump administration on Wednesday.
Even in areas that are mapped, like the Camp Mystic site in Kerr County, Texas, that was hit by a deadly flash flood on July 4, 2025, the maps may underestimate their risk because of a reliance on historic data and outdated risk assessments.
President Donald Trump’s administration has systematically reduced states’ access to resources to safeguard their people against natural disasters.
Camp Mystic successfully appealed to remove several structures from a FEMA flood zone, despite being located in a high-risk flood area in Texas Hill Country.
Rachel Maddow introduces viewers to the unfamiliar image of Donald Trump's pick to lead FEMA, David Richardson, who finally made an appearance in Texas more than a week after flooding killed scores of people.
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Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from their 100-year flood map, as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain.
The administration supported search and rescue operations in Kerr County, Texas, after at least 120 people died and dozens went missing in deadly floods.
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Weeks before flash floods devastated the Texas Hill Country, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) participated in the first meeting of a new council to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He criticized FEMA as “slow and clunky,” arguing that states are able to respond “more nimbly, more swiftly, more effectively” to disasters.
The state of New York joined several other states Wednesday in a lawsuit against the Trump administration's closure of a protective arm of FEMA.