From Reuters: The diva got mentioned in this article today – Trump’s Texas visit highlights an us-vs-them approach to disasters

From the WashPost: Trump administration moves away from abolishing FEMA
As the president heads to Texas to see the impact of last week’s deadly flash floods, the White House has backed away from plans to abolish the agency, officials said.

“For months, President Donald Trump and his homeland security secretary have said the Federal Emergency Management Agency could be eliminated. But as the president heads to Texas to view the impact of last week’s deadly floods, administration officials say abolishing the agency outright is not on the agenda.

A senior White House official told The Washington Post that no official action is being taken to wind down FEMA, and that changes in the agency will probably amount to a “rebranding” that will emphasize state leaders’ roles in disaster response.”

From AP News: Texas flooding, and politics around it, underscore the challenges Trump faces in replacing FEMA

“Just weeks ago, President Donald Trump said he wanted to begin “phasing out” the Federal Emergency Management Agency after this hurricane season to “wean off of FEMA” and “bring it down to the state level.”

But after months of promises to overhaul or eliminate the federal agency charged with responding to disasters, Trump and his administration are touting a fast and robust federal response to the devastating Texas floods. In doing so, they are aligning more closely with a traditional model of disaster response — and less with the dramatic reform the president has proposed.”

From E&ENews: FEMA Leader is a No Show After Deadly TX Flooding. “David Richardson hasn’t made public appearances, statements or social media postings since last week’s flood. Former FEMA officials say that’s concerning”

“David Richardson hasn’t made public appearances, statements or social media postings since last week’s flood. Former FEMA officials say that’s concerning.

As the Federal Emergency Management Agency responds to the deadly flooding in Texas, one key resource is missing: the FEMA leader.

David Richardson, the agency’s acting administrator, has not been to the site of one of the nation’s deadliest floods in the U.S. in the past 25 years, upending a long practice of FEMA leaders making themselves visible after major disasters.

Public appearances by FEMA administrators, including meetings with governors and disaster survivors, have been a typical part of the nation’s disaster response, reassuring the public of federal support and showcasing political unity.”

From CNN: FEMA’s response to Texas flood slowed by Noem’s cost controls.

“As monstrous floodwaters surged across central Texas late last week, officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency leapt into action, preparing to deploy critical search and rescue teams and life-saving resources, like they have in countless past disasters.

But almost instantly, FEMA ran into bureaucratic obstacles, four officials inside the agency told CNN.

As CNN has previously reported, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — whose department oversees FEMA — recently enacted a sweeping rule aimed at cutting spending: Every contract and grant over $100,000 now requires her personal sign-off before any funds can be released.”

From the NYTimes:

(1) In Flooded Texas, Questions About FEMA’s Role and Fate
(2)As the Texas Floodwaters Rose, One Indispensable Voice Was Silent

Disaster preparedness is among the trickiest public services. Natural disasters happen regularly and everywhere, but they don’t happen predictably, which means being ready for them requires extra precautions: It requires a lot of people on duty even when nothing is going wrong, to ensure they will be able to act when something inevitably does. It requires expensive infrastructure that does fairly little during normal times. That makes it a very good indicator of state capacity and wisdom. Will leaders have the foresight to prepare for outcomes that may not be top of voters’ minds? Or will preparedness fall victim to the political theater of cutting anything that can be portrayed as extravagant or redundant?
It requires extra precautions: It requires a lot of people on duty even when nothing is going wrong, to ensure they will be able to act when something inevitably does. It requires expensive infrastructure that does fairly little during normal times. That makes it a very good indicator of state capacity and wisdom. Will leaders have the foresight to prepare for outcomes that may not be top of voters’ minds? Or will preparedness fall victim to the political theater of cutting anything that can be portrayed as extravagant or redundant?esident Trump wants to shutter the agency and shift responsibility and costs of emergency management to the states. In Texas, that process appears to already be underway.

From NBCNews: How a confluence of extreme weather, geography and timing created Texas’ flood disaster

“Texas leads the country in flood deaths. Steep hills, shallow soils and a fault zone have made Hill Country, also called “flash flood alley,” one of the state’s most dangerous regions.”

From The Hill: Congress must make America more resilient to increasingly devastating disasters. 

“Get ready. As we head into hurricane season, fire season and flood season, which are all worsening because the planet is warming, our federal government is not equipped to help you prepare for, escape from, or respond to the disaster. In fact, there is apparently no plan in writing for how the federal government will respond to disasters this year.

According to an internal review, the Federal Emergency Management Agency isn’t ready to help Americans this year, and if President Trump has any say in the matter, it will never be ready. Trump plans to dismantle the agency entirely by December. And even if he’s not serious about dismantling FEMA and instead opts for reforming it, the cuts to the agency have already been disastrous.”

From CNN: Local officials facing questions over their actions in the years and hours before deadly Texas floods

“As Central Texas reels from flash floods that killed over 100 people this weekend, questions are sharpening about whether officials could have done more to avert the tragedy – both in the decades leading up to the disaster, and in the moments after the Guadalupe River began cresting its banks.

In recent years, multiple efforts in Kerr County to build a more substantial flood warning system have faltered or been abandoned due to budget concerns, leaving the epicenter of this weekend’s floods without emergency sirens that could have warned residents about the rising waters.

And while at least one neighboring county issued evacuation orders in the morning hours of July 4, Kerr County officials don’t appear to have done so.”

From WashPost: See how FEMA maps reveal camps’ flood risks. Many camps in the region are adjacent to or partly inside high-risk flood zones, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.-

“More than a dozen summer camps dot the banks of the Guadalupe River and its tributaries, a vast network of waterways twisting through the hills of Kerr County, Texas.

But many of the camps’ idyllic locales also face the danger of severe flooding, since much of the land near the river is designated as a high-risk area by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In the most affected area, on the upper Guadalupe River in Kerr County, at least 13 of them lie next to or are partially inside high-risk flood zones, according to a Washington Post analysis of FEMA maps.”