When President Donald Trump announced in January that he was appointing a council to review the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s role and efficacy, those of us who study disasters hoped that it would be a serious effort to address well-known obstacles within the crisis-recovery system. That hope was short-lived. Instead, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem declared her intention to eliminate the agency. On June 10, Trump joined the chorus, saying, “We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it down to the state level.” Then disaster struck: Over July 4 weekend, flooding across Central Texas caused widespread destruction and left 135 dead, while 3 remain missing as of this writing; Kerr County, along the Guadalupe River, was hardest hit. It seemed to…
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