The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency must release months-overdue funding notices for security grants that help cities, ports, synagogues and other entities prevent terrorist threats, Democratic Senator Andy Kim said in a letter sent to the Trump administration on Wednesday.

Even in areas that are mapped, like the Camp Mystic site in Kerr County, Texas, that was hit by a deadly flash flood on July 4, 2025, the maps may underestimate their risk because of a reliance on historic data and outdated risk assessments.

The administration supported search and rescue operations in Kerr County, Texas, after at least 120 people died and dozens went missing in deadly floods.

President Donald Trump’s administration has systematically reduced states’ access to resources to safeguard their people against natural disasters.

Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from their 100-year flood map, as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain.

The federal response to the flash flooding disaster in Texas has come under scrutiny. President Trump, who has called for cuts to FEMA, praised the agency during his recent visit to Texas, but did not comment on his plans for its future.

FEMA is anticipated to open a 90-day public appeal and comment period in the winter where property owners can formally challenge the flood zone designation but they must provide scientific or technical data to back up their request.

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.

Twenty Democrat-led U.S. states are suing to block the Trump administration from ending a FEMA grant program for disaster-resistant infrastructure. The lawsuit contends FEMA overstepped its authority in terminating the program that funds vital upgrades like flood walls and evacuation shelters.