Overview
- Private texts from Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice show him calling Secretary Noem “Homeland Barbie” hours after a July 5 flood press conference.
- The leaked messages have heightened criticism of Noem’s handling of early July’s Guadalupe River floods that claimed 138 lives.
- Independent reports find that rule changes requiring Noem’s personal sign-off delayed FEMA first responders by roughly three days.
- Critics point to local refusal to fund a siren warning system along the Guadalupe River as a factor in the region’s high death toll.
- The Department of Homeland Security has launched a review of its emergency approval protocols and interagency coordination.