Overview

• David Richardson told a July 23 House hearing that FEMA’s handling of the July 4 Central Texas floods was “a model” and rejected claims of delayed search-and-rescue and unanswered emergency calls.
• Representative Greg Stanton and other members criticized Richardson’s absence from the National Response Coordination Center during the critical first 48 hours and pressed him to apologize to flood victims.
• Ken Pagurek, head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch, resigned on July 21 citing frustration with new DHS rules that required Secretary Kristi Noem’s personal sign-off on major expenditures after rescue teams waited over 72 hours for approval.
• Texas legislators convened a special session to draft measures on early warning systems, emergency communications and relief funding while pledging not to assign blame for the disaster.
• A Trump administration review of FEMA under Secretary Noem is ongoing, with proposed structural overhauls, workforce reductions and shifts in disaster declaration authority under consideration.