3 Months After Deadly TX Floods, 22% Of Applications For FEMA Aid Found Eligible In Kerr County - Site Of Most Deaths
Only about one-fifth of applicants for federal disaster assistance from Kerr County have been deemed eligible to get financial help so far, leaving hundreds without governmental aid more than three months after deadly floods ravaged the county on July 4. As of Oct. 11, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials had referred only 46% of Kerr County applications for its Individuals and Households Program to the next stage, where they are evaluated to receive money, a Texas Tribune analysis of federal data shows. That means 1,749 applications out of 3,228 still hadn’t been reviewed past the initial stage.
And among those from Kerr County that officials did review for specific funding, FEMA found only 704 applications eligible — or about 22%. The agency denied 775, largely because people weren’t responding or were withdrawing their applications. By comparison, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace researcher Sarah Labowitz found that following 170 disasters from 2015 through May 2024, FEMA found 39% of applicants for individual and household aid were eligible.
The low proportions of referrals and approvals stand in contrast to nine other Central Texas counties that saw significant flood damage around the holiday weekend. The other counties had fewer applicants and reported less extensive damage, and have received a higher proportion of approvals from FEMA. The agency has approved $37 million so far. The disparity has advocates questioning what’s going on in Kerr County, where most of the flood deaths occurred when the Guadalupe River surged up in the early morning hours of July 4.
FEMA did not respond to requests for comment for this story. The agency is not fully operational during the federal government shutdown; the White House earlier this year called for “a full-scale review” of FEMA, which President Donald Trump has threatened to eliminate. After a disaster, FEMA money is meant to help cover costs for hotels or rent, fixing homes to make them liveable and medical and transportation needs. Without it, people lose an important resource, especially if they don’t have insurance, savings or credit, said Maddie Sloan, director of the Disaster Recovery and Fair Housing Project with the nonprofit policy and advocacy group Texas Appleseed, which has also been tracking the approvals.
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https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/16/texas-floods-fema-aid-kerr-county-nonprofits/