After the deadly July 4, 2025 flood on the Guadalupe River, it took just two days for President Donald Trump to approve a major disaster declaration for the region, opening up significant federal assistance for Kerr County.
Last month, after devastating flooding struck the region for the second time in 13 months, Gov. Greg Abbott requested that aid again, writing that “effective response and recovery efforts are beyond the capabilities of the State of Texas and affected local governments.”
Three weeks later, local officials are still waiting to see if the request will be approved, and whether key aid, including funding for roads, bridges, public utilities and debris removal, will be available.
But it appears the difference is that last year’s disaster declaration was issued far faster than the norm, due to the significant loss of life and the number of people who were missing, while this year’s request seems to be following the typical timeframe for the Trump administration.
The president took just two days to approve a disaster declaration last year, signing it on July 6 and writing on social media site Truth Social that he was doing so “to ensure that our brave first responders immediately have the resources they need.”
“These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy, with many lives lost, and many still missing,” he wrote.
At that point, the death toll from the flood had reached 68, with an unknown number of people still missing, and search crews were still combing the Guadalupe River. The final death toll in Kerr County was 119.
Only one person died in Kerr County during this year’s flooding, but the property damage total could actually be larger this time around. More than 800 homes were damaged in Kerr County alone, according to data collected by the Community Foundation of the Hill Country, and other counties, including Uvalde and Kendall, also experienced major flooding.
Immediately after this year’s flood, Kerr County officials started performing damage surveys, “anticipating it would get us an immediate response,” said Precinct 1 Commissioner Tom Jones, who will be unopposed in the race for county judge in November’s election. “We’ve done our due diligence so the most we can do is wait.”
“The value of the damage is going to be much higher this time, and that’s what’s problematic,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner Rich Paces.
He sent a letter to Trump on July 30, asking again for the disaster declaration and reminding him of his visit to Kerr County last summer.
“I had the honor of meeting with you and the first lady last July when you traveled to Kerrville to see the devastation caused by the July 4th 2025 flood and affirm the federal government’s support for our recovery,” he wrote. “That support, and how quickly it arrived, has been so critical to Kerr County. It is with a heavy heart that I write to ask for the same support and speed for my community in response to the July 2026 floods.”
Paces and Jones both said this week that they haven’t heard any updates on when the declaration might come.
‘It is disappointing’
Abbott requested this year’s declaration on July 17, five days after the initial severe weather on July 12 and one day after Kerr County flooded again on July 16.
The requested help includes access to Public Assistance, a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant program that provides money for restoring infrastructure, including roads, bridges, public buildings and utilities. Abbott also asked for activation of the U.S. Small Business Administration Disaster Loan Program; at least 100 businesses in Kerr County have reported flood damage.
Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and Rep. Chip Roy have also signed letters asking Trump to approve the declaration and assistance.
In a statement, a White House spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether the request is still under consideration and when a decision would be made.
“The president responds to each request for Federal assistance under the Stafford Act with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement—not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters,” spokeswoman Lauren Bis said. “The Trump administration remains committed to empowering and working with state and local governments to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged.”
The speed of the 2025 declaration has made this year’s timing sting for residents wondering why they aren’t receiving the same attention and assistance, Paces said.
“It’s a lot slower, it is disappointing and it’s hard to say why,” Paces said. He theorized that the dramatically lower death toll for this year’s flooding likely resulted in less national attention.
“We weren’t in the national news,” he said. “We had a terrific response that prevented the loss of life, except for one.”
Paces also questioned whether the scope of the disaster, and higher costs that come with that, could also be affecting the speed.
“The damage from this event was so much wider, so many other counties were also affected,” he said, driving up costs for recovery. “I hate to say it, but is it about the money?”
Timing of approvals
According to a recent analysis by the Associated Press, it’s not unusual for a request to still be awaiting Trump’s approval 21 days later.
The news agency reported in July that Trump has taken longer on average to approve disaster requests than any other president since 1989, when legislators created the current declaration system.
Since taking office a second time, it’s taken him an average of a month and a half after receiving a request, and 70% have taken at least a month.
That’s notably slower than his first term, when his average approval time was about three weeks, a pace similar to former President Joe Biden. Both were slower than their predecessors: Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush all had average approval times under two weeks, the AP analysis found.
The Associated Press also found that Trump has denied requests from outside his party more often in his second term, approving 80% of requests from Republican governors, compared to 59% from Democrats.
No other president since 1989 has had such a disparity: Biden approved 88% of requests from his own party and 84% from the opposing party, and during his first term, Trump’s approval rate for the two parties was within two percentage points.
But Jones, a fellow Republican, questioned whether the “political season” was affecting the decision on aid for Texas flooding this year.
“I do think the president needs to step up,” Jones said. “I’m a big fan of the party and President Trump, but I do think this is a time when we’ve got politics kind of in the way of the resources.”
“That should never be something you are dealing with in the midst of a disaster,” he said.
He said he agrees with the White House’s statement about state and local governments’ responsibility for resiliency. But he said Kerr County has made efforts to improve its preparedness, pointing to its long-term recovery group, Kerr Together, which was already in place from the first flood and will remain active.
“In Kerr County, I think we’ve met that standard,” he said.
Jones said he’s heard that state officials are trying to gather more information about all affected counties to strengthen the request for the entire region, not just Kerr County.
“The state’s doing a wonderful job trying to strategize to make that happen,” he said.
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