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Trump avoids talk of scrapping FEMA after more than 100 killed in Texas flash flood
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Updated 3:57 PM CDT, July 8, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has avoided talking about his plan to scrap the federal disaster response agency after the catastrophic flash flood in Texas that killed more than 100 people, including children attending a girls-only camp.
Asked shortly after the disaster whether he still intended to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Trump said it wasn’t the right time to talk about it. Nor did he mention such plans during a nearly two-hour meeting with his Cabinet on Tuesday.
The Republican president instead opened the meeting by having Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem talk about her visit to Kerrville, Texas, on Saturday, a day after floodwaters swept away riverside campers and homeowners in the wee hours of the Fourth of July holiday.
Her voice breaking, she recounted leading the federal response, telling the meeting that she was overcome with emotion during the trip and had “kind of fallen apart.” ...
“Very emotional,” she said, “but also just so tragic.”
Noem said “Texas is strong” but insisted that, “we, as a federal government, don’t manage these disasters. The state does. We come in and support them, and that’s exactly what we did here in this situation.” ...
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