Administration has leaned on local partners in GOP-led states to rapidly scale up immigration detention system

Former FEMA official Jeremy Edwards joined Morning Joe after the resignation of the agency’s Urban Search and Rescue chief, who reportedly quit over the Trump administration’s delayed response to deadly flooding in Texas.

WASHINGTON D.C., DC — After the devastating Fourth of July flooding in Kerr County that claimed the lives of 137 people, FEMA is under intense scrutiny from members of Congress over its response to the disaster, including claims that thousands of calls from survivors went unanswered in the critical days that followed.

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 earlier this month.

Ingram officials have been waiting to hear from Kerr County’s emergency management coordinator after feeling as if they were on their own during the devastating July 4 flooding.

Testimony will be heard from those in charge of managing rivers as well as emergency managers and first responders about the flash flooding that killed at least 135 people.

Several states and two Native American tribes waited months for disaster aid, while hundreds of requests for critical emergency services remain on hold.

Congressional scrutiny comes as Trump administration conducts evaluation of FEMA and works to % identify any shortcomings.

Ken Pagurek, a longtime Philadelphia firefighter who served as chief of FEMA’s search and rescue branch for the past year, was well-versed in major disaster response.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, said Wednesday that it will keep its Disaster Outreach Center open through Friday.