Kristi Noem slams NYT report claiming FEMA ignored calls during Texas flash flood disaster

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has rejected a New York Times report claiming that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ignored thousands of emergency calls during devastating floods in Central Texas.

The Times reported that FEMA failed to respond to nearly two-thirds of distress calls amid the disaster, which has left at least 129 people dead and 160 still missing.

Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Noem called the report false. “It’s just false,” she said. “It’s discouraging that during this time, when we have such a loss of life and so many people’s lives have turned upside down, people are playing politics. The response time was immediate.”

She added that the coverage was “inappropriate,” insisting that the response was “the best we’ve seen out of FEMA and the federal government in many, many years—and certainly much better than what we saw under Joe Biden.”

Critics, however, have blamed Noem for cost-cutting decisions, including laying off hundreds of FEMA call center workers. CNN also reported that new rules requiring the Homeland Security secretary to approve contracts or grants over $100,000 slowed down the deployment of search and rescue teams.

Noem dismissed those claims, saying, “I’m not sure where it came from. The individuals who are giving you information out of FEMA, I’d love to have them put their names behind it because anonymous attacks to politicise the situation are completely wrong.”

Noem, who has faced past criticism for her handling of immigration raids and is sometimes labeled “ICE Barbie” by opponents, is under fire again for the federal government’s disaster response.

Despite the criticism, she defended FEMA and hinted at broader changes. “The president recognises that FEMA should not exist in the way that it always has been,” she said. “It needs to be redeployed in a new way, and that’s what we did during this response.”

She added, “It’s not just FEMA that can respond in these situations. The federal government has all kinds of assets, and we deployed them.”