FEMA Misses Two-Thirds of Survivor Calls After Texas Floods

The Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to answer almost two-thirds of the calls to its disaster-assistance hotline two days after flash floods swept through Central Texas, according to internal documents cited by the New York Times. The 4 July floods, which sent the Guadalupe River surging 26 feet in 45 minutes, have killed at least 120 people and left about 170 missing. On 5 July, FEMA answered 99% of the 3,027 calls it received, but that evening several hundred call-center contractors were laid off when their contracts expired. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who now personally approves expenditures above $100,000, did not renew the contracts until 10 July, the report said. As a result, FEMA answered only about 36% of 2,363 calls on 6 July and just 15% the following day. Survivors typically rely on the hotline to apply for immediate relief payments of $750 and other aid. Disaster experts said the sudden reduction in call-handling capacity hindered recovery efforts, while a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson maintained the agency responded "swiftly and efficiently." The episode adds to mounting scrutiny of FEMA’s performance and of Noem’s management of the nation’s primary disaster-response agency.