FEMA search and rescue teams take days to reach Texas after flooding as agency faces overhaul
CNN
Multiple urban search and rescue teams from across the country that responded to the deadly floods in central Texas told CNN they were not deployed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency until at least Monday evening — days after any victim had been found alive.
Multiple urban search and rescue teams from across the country that responded to the deadly floods in central Texas told CNN they were not deployed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency until at least Monday evening — days after any victim had been found alive. Three of the teams, which are typically tasked with helping local first responders to urgently find survivors, were dispatched on Tuesday, more than four days after the Guadalupe River surge that has left more than 120 dead and scores missing. No victims have been found alive since last Friday, July 4. Teams from Indiana, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri and Nevada left their states with crews which included searchers, dogs, boats and equipment to drive across the country in a race against time to reach Texas. They were among a number of search and rescue teams from around the US coalescing in the state. Driving some 20 hours, the team from Nevada arrived on Wednesday and began setting up camp on Thursday, an official for the team told CNN. The teams, which are involved in large area searches, water rescues and finding human remains, began their first day of field work July 11, a week after the flood, the spokesperson said. A complex network of federal, state and local emergency personnel, including search and rescue workers from inside and outside Texas, raced to help in the immediate aftermath of the deadly flood. But CNN has previously reported that the decision to authorize deployments from a federal network of Urban Search and Rescue teams more than 72 hours after the calamity frustrated FEMA officials.
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