President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the federal government agency tasked with providing emergency aid in disaster sites finally visited Texas’ devastated Hill Country over the weekend — more than a week after massive flooding killed at least 132 people and left families desperate for help.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief David Richardson made an unannounced visit to Kerr County, Texas, on Saturday to “survey the impacts of the recent floods,” according to the agency.
The flooding began on the Fourth of July. As of Tuesday, volunteers continue to clear debris and search for missing loved ones.
Richardson, who was made acting administrator in May, was nowhere to be seen in the immediate aftermath of the devastation. Instead, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the disaster site and spoke at press conferences on how the federal government is assisting recovery efforts.
Saturday appeared to be Richardson’s first visit to a disaster site since being picked to lead an agency in which he has no known experience, according to Politico. FEMA and its Texas division promoted the trip with several photos on social media that showed the acting administrator concentrating on maps and speaking to officials while wearing cowboy boots, a straw planter hat and a shirt buttoned halfway up.
“So when you think of the Donald Trump presidency and what it looks like for them to be in charge of really, really, really important parts of the government, now at least you can picture this,” Rachel Maddow said Monday on MSNBC, comparing Richardson’s visit with President George W. Bush’s historic failure of a response to the deadly devastation Hurricane Katrina caused in New Orleans.
The New York Times reported last week that thousands of calls made by victims in the flood’s aftermath to FEMA’s disaster assistance line went unanswered, largely because Homeland Security didn’t renew the contracts of call center staff. On Sunday, Noem called the report “fake news” and accused FEMA whistleblowers of politicizing the situation.
Trump, who previously threatened to dismantle FEMA, praised the agency while visiting the disaster site himself. Like Richardson, the president saw the devastation caused by the floods from a helicopter.