Republicans and Democrats in Congress questions the FEMA chief about the agency's response following flooding in Hill Country that left more than 130 people dead.

The head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch, which runs a network of teams stationed across the country that can swiftly respond to natural disasters, resigned on Monday.

David Richardson, the acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), on Wednesday defended his agency’s handling of recent deadly floods in Texas, claiming the response was a “model” for “how disasters should be handled”.