WASHINGTON (States Newsroom)—A Trump administration official who oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency testified Wednesday that the nation’s reaction to Texas’ flash flooding over the Fourth of July weekend was an excellent example.
Several members of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee that was holding the hearing questioned his conclusions regarding the devastating flooding, which claimed 135 lives and involved massive search and rescue efforts.
“I don’t see anything that we did wrong,” David Richardson, the senior person carrying out the responsibilities of FEMA administrator, told the panel.
According to Richardson, the community-led, state-managed, and federally funded response in Texas brought the greatest amount of capability to bear in Texas at the appropriate time and location. That is an example of how to respond, and we made it happen.
Emergency management, according to Richardson’s testimony, is not a pile-on sport. It requires prior workout, is well-coordinated, and depends on interpersonal ties. And on the darkest day in Texas, everything came together.
Texas got what they needed
Richardson informed the panel that he was on vacation when the flooding in Texas started, and he spent the next few days in my truck calling both federal and state authorities.
He testified that Texas received what they required at the appropriate time.
In response to Texas Republican Representative Brian Babin’s question on what FEMA will do to make sure that a similar incident never occurs again, Richardson stated that the agency collaborates as closely as possible with local communities and emergency managers in Texas.
We collaborate with them to create the greatest emergency management system possible through resilience initiatives, mitigation programs, and other initiatives, Richardson stated. And as you can see in Texas, it was extremely successful under the direction of the president and secretary.
The subcommittee’s top member, Democratic Representative Greg Stanton of Arizona, disagreed with Richardson’s assessment that the response and recovery operations in Texas were managed properly.
Stanton stated, “It bothers me that we could have had more urban search and rescue personnel already set up.” There were more folks we could have spared.
Stanton said that government search and rescue efforts were hampered by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s insistence that any contract above $100,000 be approved by her.
According to him, the backlog caused a delay of over 72 hours for urban search and rescue teams. No one had been discovered alive for days by the time numerous urban search and rescue teams arrived in Texas.
The subcommittee’s chairman, Republican Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, seemed to justify FEMA’s response to the flooding in Texas by stating that the agency cannot pre-position resources for every flood warning.
According to Perry, FEMA does not pre-position to every flood warning it receives since they would do so essentially 365 days a year. Flood warnings occur frequently around the nation. However, unlike hurricanes, which can be tracked and assets can be pre-positioned based on the disaster’s location or landfall, fast-moving disasters, like the one that happened in Texas, are not predictable.
Call-in center in Texas floods
During the two-hour session, Richardson denied reports that individuals couldn’t reach agents after the floods in Texas and defended staffing and wait times for FEMA’s call-in line.
Stanton claimed that there were problems here as well because of Noem’s sign-off approach on contracts with greater costs.
According to him, this $100,000 sign-off policy caused FEMA’s call center contract to expire on July 5, less than twenty-four hours after the disaster. As a result, the great majority of survivors’ calls were not answered. Families in dire need of assistance and shelter were met with silence.
Could you picture losing a loved one, your house, and your call being unanswered when you need a lifeline?
According to Perry, another FEMA official informed the subcommittee that the contact center gives priority to individuals in a disaster region while the incident is still going on. However, Perry stressed that the panel was expecting accurate information.
According to Perry, even though the contact center receives calls from all over the nation, those that are not inside the disaster response area are somewhat neglected in favor of the more urgent calls, such as those about the current tragedy. We don’t want to accuse anyone of lying, but we must base our decisions on accurate facts.
According to Richardson’s testimony, FEMA increased staffing levels at the call center after the flooding in Texas, but Monday was a particularly busy day for agency interaction.
Every call was returned within three minutes, and none were left unanswered for more than ten. According to Richardson, it’s between three and ten minutes. Additionally, the great majority of calls were returned. The inquiries were answered.
Eliminate FEMA?
Richardson stated that the president wants an improved emergency management capability, but he would not say if the Trump administration will attempt to abolish FEMA entirely.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump established a FEMA review council to examine the agency’s operations and identify areas for improvement. FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump and Noem have stated frequently that they believe FEMA could be abolished by the federal government. Richardson stated that he anticipates the review council’s recommendations to be released later this year.
