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| The grim search for bodies continue after the July 4 catastrophic floods in Texas, as our early look at Trump era FEMA response is not great, |
And the public is learning why a fully staffed Federal Emergency Management Agency might not be such a bad idea after all.
Let the state's handle it, FEMA isn't necessary, the Trumpers said. This Texas flood will manage itself, they must have thought. Or at least disappear in the next news cycle, so it won't be a problem for them anymore.
We know that if something doesn't directly benefit Trump or his minions, it's not worth dealing with it. So to their minds, why mess with that Texas mud pit?
But when disasters get this big and stay under the media spotlight like the Texas floods have done, it gets harder and harder to control the narrative.
At last check, at least 134 people were confirmed dead in the Texas flooding Another 100 or so were listed as missing. Huge swaths of the Texas Hill Country are devastated, with houses washed away, others with flood damage up to the ceilings
The Trump folks are publicly patting themselves on the back about what a good job they're doing with the Texas flood, but the evidence suggests otherwise.
CALLS UNANSWERED
The New York Times on July 11 reported the now-really short-staffed FEMA was answering very few calls for help after the Texas disasters. Answer rates to the FEMA disaster assistance hotline fell to roughly the 35 percent rant on July 6 and just 16 percent on July 7.
"The lack of responsiveness happened because the agency had fired hundreds of contractors at call centers, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal matters.
The agency laid off the contractors on July 5 after their contracts expired and were not extended according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter.
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who has instituted a new requirement that she personally approve expenses over $100,000, did not renew the contracts until Thursday, five days after the contract expired. FEMA is part of Department of Homeland Security."
It appears to me ICE Barbie, as I call her, did not worry about this mess-up until it appeared there might be a public relations problem brewing.
ICE Barbie, who is much better at cosplaying and posing for the media, naturally went on TV. Here's her quote from her appearance on NBC's 'Meet the Press with Kristen Welker."
"No employees were off of work....... Every one of them was answering calls, so false reporting, fake news and it's discouraging. It's discouraging that during this time, when we have such a loss of life and so many people's lives have been turned upside down, that people are playing politics with this because the response time was immediate."
Notice the careful wording.
A lot of employees had been let go. The ones that were left were answering calls. I'm sure every one of the few remaining did answer calls, as Noem said. She just left out the part that a bunch of people who could have helped handle the big call volume weren't there anymore.
Any criticism is supposedly "playing politics." The crisis in Texas is far from over, so you'd think prodding an agency to actually help people is the definition of caring about "so many people's lives."
MICROMANAGING
Noem's micromanaging - reviewing any expenditure over $100,000 - also slowed the response to the Texas flood in other ways. As CNN reported:
"For FEMA, where disaster response costs routinely soar into the billions as the agency contracts with on-the-ground crews, officials say that threshold is essentially 'pennies' requiring sign-off for relatively small expenditures.
In essence, they say the order has stripped the agency of much of its autonomy at the very moment its help is needed most.
'We were operating under a clear set of guidance: lean forward, be prepared, anticipate what the state needs, and be ready to deliver it,' a longtime FEMA official told CNN. 'That is not as clear of an intent for us at the moment.'"
This for instance meant FEMA couldn't pre-position Urban Search and Rescue crews from a network of teams stationed regionally around the country. Noem reportedly didn't authorize FEMA's deployment of the Urban Search and Rescue teams until more than 72 hours after the flooding started.
For their part, the Noem team used other search and rescue assets and didn't need this Urban Search and Rescue Team.
"FEMA is shifting from a bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens......The old processes are being replaced because they failed American emergencies for decades."
The spokesperson has it exactly backwards. Until now, FEMA has been praised for its rapid response I'm the immediate emergency in the hours and days after the disaster strikes.
UNEVEN DIRECT RESPONSE
The very valid criticism of FEMA comes in the recovery phase, where applying for assistance and money for rebuilding roads, other infrastructure, homes, and businesses, and girded for the next disaster, always seemed to become a horrible, bureaucratic slog.
That's where the FEMA reform coulda, shoulda happened.
FEMA has ultimately arrived in Texas, and they do seem to be trying to help. Parts of the old, better FEMA infrastructure are still there. At least for now.
Victims are being encouraged to contact FEMA, despite the phone issues to start claims. The agency has set up a help center and has started processing claims.
Some Texas flood victims said that FEMA has been helpful so far, which is a glimmer of encouragement here.
But private and church groups are leading the way, searching for victims, mucking out damaged homes and setting up field kitchens for people whose houses have washed away or otherwise have been left uninhabitable.
Still the Texas FEMA stumbles are disconcerting.
I doubt FEMA and the Trump administration will change course much, but the bad Texas disaster response is certainly being noticed.
"Heck of a job, Secretary Noem," the Houston Chronicle editorial board sarcastically wrote. The remark is a throwback to former President George W. Bush's notorious and highly inaccurate praise for then-FEMA Director Michael Brown as New Orleans flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Several Democratic members of Congress demanded an investigation into Noem's response to the disaster. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts called for her resignation. None of this will happen, given the Republican fealty to whatever Trump and his minions do, but it's notable.
The irony is that Noem, acting FEMA director David Richardson and the Trump administration is undoing what had been badly needed FEMA reforms after the Katrina debacle.
Speaking of Richardson, he didn't make any public statements and appearances for more than a week after the floods. Usually, FEMA directors are splattered themselves all over the news when there's big disasters, giving overviews of the federal response to these calamities.
Richardson, who famously seemed unaware that the U.S. has a hurricane season, does not have five or more years of disaster management experience. The post-Katrina reforms require FEMA directors to have such experience, but the Trump administration is getting around that by keeping him as the so-called "acting" director.
Another indication how unseriously the Trumpsters take disaster responses
And remember, this terrible flood happened in a red state. Trump is the probably the most sinister transactionally motivated person in the world. He'll help his supporters until he doesn't need them anymore.
But he'll attack his perceived enemies and try everything he can not to help. What if the Texas disaster happened in a blue state?
We got a taste of that during and after the immense and deadly California wildfires back in January.
Trump threatened to withhold disaster aid to California unless the state enacted voter ID laws. Never mind that those ID laws have nothing to do with wildfires. That casts doubt on whether he will approve $40 billion California Gov Gavin Newsom has requested to help pay for fire recovery costs.
Meanwhile, other disasters have hit since Texas and more loom, Wildfire season is ramping up. Forecasts point toward weather conditions in the coming days and weeks across much of the West that favor large fires.
Hurricane season has started. The big ones usually hit soon - mostly in August and September. Those flash floods keep hitting all kinds of communities in the United States.
We've known for months that Trump and his loyal band of sycophants are not inclined to help their fellow Americans. Again, because there's nothing in it for them. No profits, no monetary gain. And gawd forbid any of this crew to help disaster victims because it's the right thing to do.
Trump, according to numerous reports, at least once called fallen military service members "losers and suckers."
I think he believes disaster victims are losers and suckers, too.
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