{"id":237664,"date":"2025-09-19T00:45:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/237664\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T00:45:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:45:21","slug":"trumps-continued-fema-cuts-put-texas-in-crosshairs-for-worse-natural-catastrophes-lawmakers-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/237664\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s continued FEMA cuts put Texas in crosshairs for worse natural catastrophes, lawmakers warn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FloodFlood waters from the Guadalupe River surround homes near Kerrville on July 4, 2025.
\n Credit: Wikimedia Commons \/ Public Domain, Unknown Author<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s continued cuts to FEMA and Texas\u2019 failure to invest in disaster preparedness make it likely San Antonio and other parts of the state will be caught flatfooted in the next natural disaster, elected officials warned.<\/p>\n

Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert joined U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, and Rafael Lemaitre, a former FEMA public affairs director, on a Thursday media call warning Texas stands to lose $74 million in disaster mitigation funds<\/a> as the White House looks to further gut the agency. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government is systematically making us less prepared,\u201d said Calvert, a Democrat representing the county\u2019s Precinct 4. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what natural disaster we have, we\u2019re not going to be in a good space.\u201d<\/p>\n

With climate change making natural catastrophes more frequent and more severe, FEMA\u2019s importance has only increased, said Lemaitre, who served with the agency during the Obama administration.<\/p>\n

Yet, by some accounts, FEMA has lost roughly 20% of its staff since Trump targeted it with layoffs and cuts, according to Lemaitre. He says the president is undoing decades of reforms implanted after Hurricane Katrina, whose 2005 landfall resulted in 1,400 deaths.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fear that we\u2019re on a course to painfully relearn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina,\u201d he added. \u201cFolks on this call who saw that disaster unravel in real time on television probably remember that was a bad time for emergency management. FEMA was underfunded, it wasn\u2019t a respected agency \u2026 . And we saw the result of that: we saw a bungled response to a major disaster.\u201d <\/p>\n

While coastal areas prone to hurricanes may grab the biggest headlines, Calvert warned that San Antonio isn\u2019t immune to natural catastrophe. In addition to the July 4 Hill Country floods killed 135, a flash flood a month prior claimed more than a dozen lives<\/a> along Northeast San Antonio\u2019s Beitel Creek.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust in June, my precinct lost 13 people due to flash flooding,\u201d Calvert said. \u201cWe are in Flash Flood Alley in Bexar County and San Antonio. This was in an area I grew up in. I used to ride my bike in the ditches where people perished.\u201d<\/p>\n

While San Antonio-area officials lobbied for state lawmakers to fund additional safety upgrades for the intersection where those people were swept away, Calvert said it\u2019s an open question how much money they\u2019ll see. Indeed, Republican-controlled Texas has shown little appetite for spending on disaster prevention or relief, he added. <\/p>\n

\u201cTexas has more money in its Rainy Day Fund than almost every other state combined,\u201d Calvert said. \u201cWhether it was Winter Storm Uri, the freeze we had in February 2021, or any number of emergencies that are truly rainy days for communities, we\u2019ve seen the state benefit the bankers holding onto that money more than Main Street getting that money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green, the Houston congressman, urged people concerned the pending FEMA cuts to call lawmakers and say they don\u2019t want it dismantled. Congressional Democrats have tried to reach across the aisle to bolster the agency, he said, but added that GOP legislators are sufficiently cowed by Trump that they\u2019re afraid to act. <\/p>\n

\u201c[Disaster relief] has to be an effort on behalf of the counties, the cities as well, the state and the federal government,\u201d Green said. \u201cUnfortunately, we have a president who\u2019s moving in a direction that\u2019s antithetical to the best interests of the people of the state of Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Texas\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tHB 256 would prevent camps from correcting violations on the spot to avoid state penalties and reduce the number of camps serving on a state panel to a maximum of two.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Critics\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tAbbott wasn\u2019t directly involved in putting on singer George Strait\u2019s benefit show, and social media users blasted the governor for prioritizing redistricting ahead of flood relief.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Bad\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tRight-wing pundits and politicians have shown no qualms about deflecting blame when it comes to the tragedy.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

This article appears in Sep. 18-Oct. 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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