Trump visits Texas amid controversy over emergency services cuts
Since his arrival at the White House, significant cuts in human and financial resources have been made.
BarcelonaUS President Donald Trump traveled tonight to the area affected by last week's floods in the state of Texas, which left More than 120 dead and about 170 missingTrump met with emergency workers and survivors on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
According to the office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, upon his arrival, the US president declared a state of emergency for five additional counties—Burnet, Kerr, San Saba, Tom Green, and Travis—allowing them to benefit from aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The aid program includes assistance for survivors with housing and funding for home repairs and infrastructure rehabilitation.
Specifically, in recent days, the agency that manages emergencies has been at the center of controversy. In January, Trump said that FEMA was not working well, and he has made several statements in recent months to that effect. Since then, the agency has lost a quarter of its staff, after the US president created the FEMA Review Board as part of his cutbacks.
In the wake of the deadly floods in Texas, the White House's rhetoric has shifted, and while Trump remains committed to reducing the size of the federal agency, he now says it's to give state and local governments greater decision-making power. The federal government insists on defending the cuts and asserts that the response to the floods is better than before the agency's changes. The head of the Office of the Budget, Russell T. Vought, asserted on Friday that "Texas would have all the money it needs" of the $13 billion available to FEMA.
Lack of resources
Agency workers have complained that Texas' emergency response capacity has been hampered. A requirement that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem approve any expenditure over $100,000 has delayed the deployment of emergency teams, according to the The Washington Post. Added to this controversy is the one generated by the Staff cuts at the United States Weather Service, which would also have affected the capacity to respond to the Texas floods, and the one caused by the revelation that Texas authorities are going to rule out the purchase of warning systems to find them too expensive.
However, the economic damage caused by natural disasters has increased exponentially in recent years. According to a congressional report, in 2024, there were 27 catastrophes that caused damages of more than one billion dollars, while in 2018 there were 14.
For the moment, emergency teams are still searching for the missing, although they have increasingly less hope of finding survivors. Early on July 4, torrential rains fell in the state of Texas, causing the Guadalupe River to rise to 9 meters, causing it to overflow its banks and sweep away the facilities of Camp Mystic, a Catholic girls' camp. The following died: 27 people, between counselors and girls. Trump called the flooding in New Mexico, in West Texas, an "inevitable" natural event.