FEMA Is in Tatters. Here Comes Hurricane Season.

Water got in my house.

[boat roaring]

Wow, what was that?

That is the rescue, uh, the airboat.

They probably found a body.

Ugh.

Every time it goes off, it's because the recovery team found somebody, and that's where they go retrieve it.

[tense music]

I spoke with Lorena Guillen last July.

She owns a small RV park and restaurant that sits right on the bank of the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas.

Well, last summer, as torrential rains fell and fell, the Guadalupe rose and rose and washed everything away.

One of my residents heard people screaming, and, uh, so my husband ran over there, got down to his waist, uh, in, in water and trying to ask the, the guy to throw his baby at him so he-

Ugh

... can save the baby.

And, and, and the rescue team was trying to get in there.

They tried so hard, and they got washed away.

At least 117 people were killed in these historic floods, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp in the Texas Hill Country.

And amid questions about whether there were enough safeguards or warnings at the local level, there were also serious concerns about the federal response.

New CNN reporting also says that FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, ran into bureaucratic obstacles that slowed its disaster response.

Multiple sources telling CNN that Secretary Noem did not authorize FEMA's deployment until Monday, more than 72 hours after the flooding began.

Noem today pushed back on this reporting.

Our Coast Guard, our Border Patrol BORTAC teams were there immediately.

Uh, every single thing I was on, uh, they asked for, we were there.

Uh, the governor-

As the government agency that sweeps into an area after a major natural disaster or emergency, FEMA is a critical lifeline for people like Lorena Guillen.