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Latin Times
Latin Times
Politics
José Gutierrez

Texas Flood Victims Are Already Paying the Price for Washington's Disaster Retreat

KERRVILLE, TEXAS - JULY 17: Sheds are displaced near an overpass on the banks of the Guadalupe River on July 17, 2026 in Kerrville, Texas. Flash floods swept across parts of Central Texas, bringing torrential rainfall, prompting evacuations, and triggering hundreds of water rescues. At least two people have been killed, and more than 200 others have been rescued. (Credit: Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton stood before the nation's state emergency managers in Little Rock, Arkansas, on October 20 and delivered what amounts to the clearest policy statement of the Trump administration's disaster doctrine: build your own reserves, because Washington is stepping back.

The federal safety net for natural disasters is being quietly dismantled — and the shift could leave tens of millions of Americans in disaster-prone states without adequate protection within months.

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