Questions are mounting over local authorities’ failure to prepare and warn residents ahead of the disaster. Texas officials have pointed the finger at federal authorities. The chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management claimed during a weekend press conference that the National Weather Service did not give proper warning of the catastrophic flash floods.

W. Nim Kidd: “Go back and look at your own forecast, and the amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of those forecasts.”

Experts say staff shortages at local National Weather Service offices and the lack of a local severe weather warning system may also have been part of the problem. On Sunday, President Trump issued a major disaster declaration for Texas, activating FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which Trump has vowed to phase out after this year’s hurricane season. On Sunday, reporters questioned him about those plans.

Reporter: “Are you still planning to phase out FEMA?”

President Donald Trump: “Well, FEMA is something we can talk about later, but right now they’re busy working, so we’ll leave it at that.”

Meanwhile, Texans are bracing for more severe rains in the coming days and hours. We’ll have more on the Texas floods after headlines.