For months, officials at FEMA have sounded the alarm, warning that with the new cuts and red tape, they were unprepared for emergencies, such as the one in Texas.
Sadly, their point was proven with the Texas floods, when they were hindered by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s new rule that she must personally approve every contract and grant over $100,000.
That meant that FEMA officials couldn’t pre-position Urban Search and Rescue crews closer to the disaster zone, which they would normally do, because Noem didn’t authorize their deployment until more than 72 hours after the flooding began.
Texas also requested aerial imagery from FEMA to aid search operations, but that response was also delayed while awaiting Noem’s signature on the necessary contract.