Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
Central Texas Congressman Greg Casar demanded answers in the aftermath of the deadly flood in the Upper Guadalupe River that left more than 100 people dead and many more missing. On Friday, Casar and other Democratic members of Congress sent letters to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requesting details into the reported delay in the flood response.
“The Trump administration owes Texas answers about what went wrong in the disaster response. We need full investigations at every level of government to understand things that went right, but then also, critically, things that went wrong so that we can learn from those mistakes, have accountability and save lives in the future,” Casar told TPR.
Casar said he is especially concerned about reports that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem waited three days before authorizing special expenditures for the Kerr County flood response.
“At the federal level, I am deeply troubled by reports that DHS Secretary Noem delayed FEMA search and rescue by up to 72 hours by failing to sign off on the expenses. You shouldn't have to think about that for even 72 seconds,“ Casar said.
The report of the delay was initially filed by CNN. Noem on FOX News denied the story, calling it “fake news” and “absolutely trash.”
Casar said there needs to be a serious probe into what happened, and he’s asking for the DHS communications documents on the flood response to be released. “I think Texans deserve answers about these reports that search and rescue was delayed by 72 hours,” he said.
The Austin Democrat also called for a detailed examination of the impact that the mass firings on the weather forecasts leading up to the heavy rains that fell in the Guadalupe River watershed.
“We also know that key positions at NOAA and the National Weather Service were vacant during this because of the Elon Musk DOGE cuts at the federal government. The National Weather Service, according to their own internal documents, are facing severe staffing shortages in local offices at the time of the floods. A local office was lacking a staff forecaster and a meteorologist in charge. Another office was missing a warning coordinator and a meteorologist,” he said.
Casar said this call for an investigation is not partisan politics. “We cannot allow any administration, Democratic or Republican, to sweep any failures under the rug. This is not about politics. This should not be about Donald Trump. This is about keeping people safe,” he said.
Casar said the State of Texas and the Trump administration cannot be trusted to investigate themselves on the catastrophic flood. He said any probe should be carried out by an independent inspector general.
