Weeks before flash floods devastated the Texas Hill Country, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) participated in the first meeting of a new council to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He criticized FEMA as “slow and clunky,” arguing that states are able to respond “more nimbly, more swiftly, more effectively” to disasters.

The Trump administration's is talking about remaking the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, as disasters unfold

Michael Coen, chief of staff of FEMA under former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, called on the state to be more proactive in preparing for disasters.