Kerrville officials were mostly unprepared for the disastrous floods that hit the Hill Country on July 4, according to recently made public city correspondence, including emails and text messages that KSAT obtained through public records requests.
Among the records is a text discussion in which Dalton Rice, the city manager of Kerrville, seems to make fun of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Hours before a July 5 press conference, held alongside federal, state, and local officials to update the public on rescue efforts, a city employee texted Rice, “Just saw you met Homeland Barbie. How is she?”
Rice replied, “Basically Homeland Barbie,” followed by a string of laughter.
Since Noem was appointed DHS Secretary earlier this year, the nickname and other similar titles, such as “ICE Barbie,” have been used online to mock her.
Given the seriousness of the catastrophe response and mounting criticism of its handling, the exchange has drawn attention.
Democrats, especially, have been critical of the response, which isn’t surprising. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, one of the most partisan left-wing Democrats in the chamber, claimed the Trump administration undermined FEMA’s preparedness by firing FEMA employees while flood victims were actively phoning the agency for assistance, but he did not explicitly blame Noem for the flooding itself.
Earlier this month, Noem refuted claims of delay by defending the federal reaction in an interview on Fox News Sunday.
After speaking with Texas officials, she said, within hours, more than 700 FEMA employees were on the ground. She added that the Coast Guard was sent out right away after that discussion.
The Guadalupe River is where the flooding was most deadly, and Texas officials have long opposed proposals to install a warning siren system there. According to critics, such a mechanism might have prevented fatalities.
A major National Weather Service emergency coordination officer was fired months before the disaster due to a contentious reorganization by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which further raised concerns about institutional preparedness.
Before the next storm hits, Kerrville and the neighboring communities are calling for responsibility and systemic change as a result of the disaster.
At least 137 people died as a result of the devastating flooding in Texas, with 108 of those deaths occurring in Kerr County alone. 27 children and staff members from Camp Mystic, a century-old Christian summer camp for girls near the town of Hunt, were among the deceased.
Investigators are currently looking into whether Camp Mystic officials were aware of and acted upon flash flood warnings before the incident.
The event has raised more general concerns about how susceptible organizations, such as youth camps, evaluate and respond to quickly changing weather hazards.
Earlier this month, Noem said that the federal response to last weekend’s deadly floods in Texas Hill Country showcased the strengthened disaster relief efforts the Trump administration is committed to providing.
The catastrophic Fourth of July floods claimed at least 119 lives and left more than 150 people missing, including 27 girls attending Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas.
“What you saw from our response in Texas is going to be a lot of how President [Donald] Trump envisions what [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] (FEMA) would look like in the future,” Noem said during a news conference.
She added: “We did things in Texas, in response, very different than Joe Biden.”
In response to the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the Biden administration determined the chemical spill did not qualify for a FEMA disaster declaration, delaying deployment of a federal response team for two weeks.
During the 2023 Maui wildfires—which killed over 100 people and left historic Lahaina in ruins—survivors were stranded without food, water, or shelter. At the time, FEMA Administrator Michael Brown condemned President Biden’s handling of the crisis as “an abject failure.”
Widespread reports also criticized the slow response and insufficient assistance from the Biden administration following Hurricane Helene’s impact on North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina in late 2024.
“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump said in January while visiting North Carolina. “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good.”
Following the floods, Noem said she met with Texas Governor Greg Abbott right away to discuss securing a major disaster declaration.
She noted that within an hour or two of the request, the White House approved it.