Officials in Ingram, Texas, which was hit hard by the July 4 floods, have urgent questions for their county’s emergency management coordinator.

The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is pushing back on criticisms of the federal response to the central Texas floods that killed at least 136 people.

At several points during the hearing, the state emergency management chief directed attention to the role of local emergency managers in disaster response.

One of the biggest revelations came from Chief Nim Kidd, head of the Texas Division of Emergency Management and a former San Antonio firefighter. Kidd described showing up in the flood zone with his radio—only to find he couldn’t communicate with his own San Antonio Fire Department colleagues.

Ken Pagurek, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue chief, has resigned amid criticism over the agency's delayed response to Texas flooding and efforts by the federal government to dismantle the organization.

The flash floods that killed at least 135 people in Texas' Hill Country was the main topic during the opening of a special legislative session in the state on Monday.

FEMA’s maps are essential tools for identifying flood risks, but they have significant gaps that limit their effectiveness.

A bill Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed in 2019 could have increased participation in phone-based emergency warning systems, according to experts and the bill’s