KERRVILLE, Texas – While the Trump administration has painted a picture of a “swift” response to the Hill Country floods in the days after the disaster, officials inside the Federal Emergency Management Agency told CNN bureaucratic obstacles complicated its response.
On the morning of July 4, areas surrounding the Guadalupe River received between 10 and 12 inches of rain overnight, resulting in major flooding.
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One week after flooding ripped through the Texas Hill Country, the number of deaths has risen to more than 100, with 161 people still missing in Kerr County alone.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump approved federal disaster assistance for Kerr County as part of a Major Disaster Declaration, making the county eligible for direct disaster assistance.
>> FEMA aid available for Kerrville flood victims, but distribution timeline remains unclear
FEMA did not deploy its network of Urban Search and Rescue teams until Monday, after at least 84 people had already been found dead in Kerr County.
Gale Blomenkamp, a spokesperson for Missouri Task Force 1, one of the teams deployed, told KOMU 8 News the delay was because the state only reached out to other states for assistance once it exhausted its own resources.
“They are a big state, and they have a lot of capabilities,” Blomenkamp said, “and they can take care of themselves.”
However, multiple sources told CNN that FEMA would have swiftly staged these teams closer to a disaster zone in anticipation of urgent requests.
In the wake of the floods, FEMA officials realized they needed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s approval before sending those additional assets, sources told CNN.
Noem’s authorization did not come until more than 72 hours after flooding began, sources told CNN, despite being on the ground the day after flooding occurred.
FEMA’s search and rescue teams did not arrive until Tuesday evening and could not begin work until Wednesday morning.
The delay is due to a new rule that requires every Homeland Security contract and grant over $100,000 to be personally approved by Noem, according to CNN and the Washington Post.
The rule proved to be a devastating blow to the agency, which routinely spends billions on disaster response contracts with on-the-ground crews, sources told CNN.
Homeland Security officials defended the federal response by citing other Homeland Security agencies that responded.
“Our Coast Guard, our Border Patrol BORTAC (Border Patrol Tactical Unit) teams were there immediately,” Noem said to Fox & Friends on Thursday. “Nobody there has said anything about that they didn’t get everything that they wanted immediately or that they needed, and I’m proud of the work we’ve done to support that.”
The department also defended the slow dismantling of the agency, while in the same breath acknowledging that FEMA resources were still needed.
“FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades.”
One Texas state official told CNN it is interacting with FEMA in the way it always does, noting that it has many resources on its own.
However, Noem’s comments seem to suggest that problems could arise in other states that are not as prepared for disasters.
“I do know that the state of Texas is amazing in how it responds to disasters,” Noem said in a news conference Saturday. “Not every state is like that.”
The delays in response times due to bureaucratic bottlenecking are not limited to the federal government, however.
KSAT obtained dispatcher audio showing Kerr County took nearly six hours to send out a mass emergency alert from the time a firefighter requested the alert.
“Stand by, we have to get that approved with our supervisor,” a Kerr County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) dispatcher replied to the request.
During Trump’s visit to Texas on Friday, he praised FEMA’s response as “fully funded” and “immediate.”
“We were right on time,” Trump said in an interview with NBC on Thursday night. “She was the first one I saw on television.”
Trump extends major disaster declaration to more Texas counties
Ahead of his visit to Texas, Trump on Thursday approved a request from Abbott to extend the major disaster declaration beyond Kerr County to eight additional counties, making them eligible for direct financial assistance to recover and rebuild.
These counties are eligible for FEMA Individual Assistance programs:
- Burnet
- Kerr
- San Saba
- Tom Green
- Travis
- Williamson
These counties are eligible for FEMA’s Public Assistance Program:
- Kendall
- Kerr
- Kimble
- Menard
- San Saba
“President Donald Trump approved my request to add more counties to his disaster declaration, which will provide critical assistance to Texans and communities impacted by the devastating flooding,” Abbott said in a news release Friday. “There has been extraordinary collaboration with the state and the federal government to make sure that we address Texans’ needs as quickly as possible through disaster assistance programs. The State of Texas will continue to work with our federal and local partners to provide impacted Texans with the support they need to heal and recover.”
More counties could be added to the disaster declaration as further information from the damage assessments becomes available, according to FEMA.