Trump praises Texas catastrophe response whereas FEMA’s future is murky : NPR

President Trump visited a storm-torn Texas on Friday because the destiny of the nation’s high federal catastrophe company stays unsure.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and different native leaders praised the president for a swift response and for signing an expanded emergency declaration for the affected space after flooding killed greater than 100 folks, with many nonetheless lacking.

Trump and first woman Melania Trump met with state and native officers, first responders, in addition to households of the victims in Kerrville.

“As a nation, we mourn for each single life that was swept away within the flood, and we pray for the households which might be left behind. It is superb, the unbelievable spirit from these households. I do not know, I do not even know the way they do it,” Trump mentioned at a roundtable after assembly with households.

The primary woman mentioned the nation is grieving with them. She mentioned they prayed, hugged and held palms, as they shared tales. She mentioned she was given a bracelet, which she wore on the roundtable, “in honor of all of the little ladies that … misplaced their lives” at Camp Mystic.

First woman Melania Trump speaks throughout a gathering with native officers and first responders in Kerrville, Texas, on July 11, following devastating flooding within the space over the July 4 weekend. Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Picture by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP through Getty Photographs)

Brendan Smialowski/AFP through Getty Photographs

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Brendan Smialowski/AFP through Getty Photographs

Melania Trump mentioned she promised to come back again.

Within the background of the emotional scene had been questions on how ready Texas communities are for flooding, whether or not warning programs might have been higher — and the way the federal authorities plans to method disasters going ahead.

In the course of the roundtable occasion, Trump disregarded a query from a Texas reporter regarding whether or not locals had been correctly notified prematurely of the floods. When requested if he had a message for households who had been upset concerning the alert system, Trump mentioned, he thought “everybody did an unbelievable job beneath the circumstances.” He later added, “Solely a really evil individual would ask a query like that.”

Whereas he praised the response in Texas, Trump didn’t immediately deal with his broader imaginative and prescient for the Federal Emergency Administration Company. Shortly after beginning his second time period, Trump mentioned he needed to overtake the FEMA and put extra onus for emergency response on states.

Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem oversees FEMA and burdened in Friday’s roundtable that the federal authorities was enjoying a supporting function on this effort.

Noem mentioned the administration is “empowering the state and the native officers to make the very best selections for his or her folks, as a result of they know their folks, they know their group, and once they ask, then we are available and help them.”

Abbott and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, additionally emphasised ways in which the state and native communities are spearheading rescue and restoration efforts. Abbott additionally famous that there could be group classes to think about options for going ahead, together with doubtlessly completely different alert programs for future floods.

“We’ll work on each single answer to ensure issues like this do not occur once more, not simply on this group, however in different river basins throughout the state additionally. So we’ll work to get it proper,” Abbott mentioned.

Roy referenced a Hill Nation basis that had raised $30 million. He criticized a query about whether or not the alert system fell brief as pointless finger-pointing.

“The folks on this group rallied round to assist folks,” he mentioned. “And that is the enduring picture — these little ladies from Camp Mystic who had been singing hymns as they watched the injury as they left that camp popping out of there. And that is who the folks of Texas are.”

Trump mentioned the federal authorities will proceed to help Texas with no matter it wants.

“The billions of {dollars} that this nation offers away for issues that they should not be doing, and this isn’t billions of {dollars},” he mentioned in a Fox Information interview as he was departing the state. “This can be a comparatively small sum of money, nevertheless it’s — it is a number of love, it is a number of love and a number of coronary heart. And so we will keep concerned.”

The administration has in a roundabout way mentioned whether or not it is going to observe by means of with plans to remove FEMA in its present type as quickly as December 2025, as Trump as soon as advised. A council tasked with recommending adjustments for the company, which incorporates Cupboard members, governors — together with Abbott, and emergency administration specialists — had been scheduled to make suggestions by mid-November and full its work by Might 2026.

FEMA offers billions of {dollars} in help to communities hit by disasters, however typically faces criticism for being too gradual to disburse support and inefficient. Many emergency administration specialists say FEMA performs an important function in responding to disasters which might be too giant and require too many assets for one state to deal with.

NPR political reporter Elena Moore contributed to this report.