FEMA was ready to respond to this week's floods in Texas—but was delayed by administrative hurdles and approval processes that took 72 hours to resolve.

Some governors and mayors are concerned over how current or potential cuts to agencies will impact how the government can respond in the future to major weather events.

On a FEMA color-coded hazard map, Alameda, Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties are shaded dark red, indicating an area with nearly 4.7 million Californians that face the most dire risks of

As severe flooding devastates parts of Texas, many across the country are asking: What role does FEMA play in disaster response?Experts say the answer starts close to home. According to Dr. Njoki Mwarumba,

As deadly floods swept through Central Texas, residents of Travis and Burnet counties say they weren't made aware of the danger they faced.

"FEMA has been really headed by some very good people,” Trump said during a roundtable with local officials, suggesting his administration turned the agency around after sharply criticizing the Biden administration-led FEMA response to flooding in North Carolina in late 2024.