The Federal Emergency Management Agency didn’t answer thousands of phone calls after the Texas floods last week because it had fired call center contractors.
Records obtained by The New York Times show that FEMA laid off contractors the night of July 5, when flood waters were receding but still high, and when damage assessment was taking place. It took Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem until Thursday—five days later—to renew the contractors’ contracts.
After taking office, Noem created a policy where she must personally approve expenses totaling $100,000 or more.
The contrast in two-way communication between July 5 and the following days is stark. Before the contracts at four call center companies expired that night, FEMA answered 3,018 of 3,027 calls.
On July 6, however, it answered only 846 of 2,363 calls. Data from July 7 shows an even worse level of responsiveness: 2,613 of 16,419 calls.
A Homeland Security Department spokeswoman told the Times in a statement, “When a natural disaster strikes, phone calls surge, and wait times can subsequently increase. Despite this expected influx, FEMA’s disaster call center responded to every caller swiftly and efficiently, ensuring no one was left without assistance.”
Under the Trump administration, FEMA has been on the chopping block, with the president saying he wants to do away it with entirely or substantially overhaul it so that states—even red ones like Texas—shoulder more of the financial burden.
That could explain why Noem also waited until July 7 to authorize the deployment of FEMA’s search and rescue teams to the region; and why nothing on acting FEMA administrator David Richardson’s resume indicates experience with managing emergencies.
The flood has killed at least 128 people, officials in Kerr County said Friday. More than 150 remain missing.
Trump, who visited the area on Friday, softened his attacks on FEMA by claiming to focus on a “rebranding” of the agency—as if it were a piece of real estate.
UPDATE: After this article was published, the Department of Homeland Security replied to the Daily Beast on X stating the article was “FALSE. NO ONE was left without assistance and every call was responded to urgently.” They repeated the same statement made to The New York Times about how “When a natural disaster strikes, phone calls surge, and wait times can subsequently increase.”
The DHS also stated that: “No call center operators were laid off or fired. Within hours of the disaster declaration, FEMA deployed 311 staffers delivering critical intelligence, aerial imagery, and shelter for 171 survivors, contributing to over 850 lives saved alongside Texas’s 2,100 personnel across 20 agencies. FEMA remains fully committed to providing rapid, effective support to affected communities throughout this ongoing recovery effort.”
