Katy and Fulshear are entering peak hurricane season with a federal safety net that's been dramatically weakened, a federal watchdog reported Thursday, Aug. 13.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that more than 4,300 employees left FEMA in fiscal year 2025, a 55% jump in separations from the prior year. That exodus represented about 17% of the agency's average workforce of 25,134.
When the July 4, 2025, Texas Hill Country floods began, killing at least 135 people, only 15% of FEMA's incident management workforce was available to deploy. The agency had cut its surge call-center resources by roughly 50%, and some flood survivors faced long waits or unanswered calls while seeking help, according to the GAO report.
"You're going to see less qualified people respond because they cut some of the most important parts of their workforce," Chris Currie, the GAO director who oversaw the review, told KHOU on Thursday, Aug. 13.
Staffing keeps falling
The picture has worsened since. FEMA was under a hiring freeze from January 2025 through May 2026, and its total headcount fell to about 20,300 by June 2026, according to Office of Personnel Management data reported by E&E News. That is the agency's smallest workforce since April 2020, a 22% decline from January 2025.
FEMA's Region 6, which covers Texas, lost 9% of its staff through voluntary workforce reduction programs alone, the GAO report shows.
For the 2026 hurricane season, FEMA expects to have about 240 employees available through the DHS Surge Capacity Force, down from roughly 600 in 2025.
FEMA officials told GAO investigators they have been "operating in uncertainty and confusion while still trying to meet the mission with the staff they have."
New administrator, old problems
The Senate confirmed Cameron Hamilton as FEMA administrator on Saturday, Aug. 8, in a 51-47 vote; he was sworn in Tuesday, Aug. 11. Hamilton is the agency's first permanent leader since January 2025. Before him, four acting officials cycled through the role, the longest stretch without a confirmed administrator in at least 15 years, according to GAO.
In a statement, FEMA said it is ensuring workforce stability and maintaining a strong deployable force, calling the agency leaner and more focused on supporting state, local, tribal and territorial partners before, during and after disasters.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has signaled a different posture, telling governors that FEMA is "bloated" and that "more responsibility is going to go back to your states."
What it means locally
Katy and Fulshear sit squarely in one of the nation's most flood-prone corridors. Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 caused an estimated $158.8 billion in damages, destroyed or damaged more than 200,000 homes and businesses, and prompted over 17,000 rescues across the Houston area.
Fort Bend County has moved to bolster its own capacity. Officials on July 23 announced a new emergency shelter partnership with the Epicenter in Rosenberg, designating the venue as a mega-shelter for hurricanes and large-scale disasters. Greg Babst, director of the Fort Bend County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said at the announcement that the agreement "gives us another significant resource that we can incorporate into our emergency response planning," as we reported July 30.
GAO recommends Congress require that major FEMA workforce decisions be informed by workforce planning and that FEMA report to Congress on readiness before each hurricane season. DHS agreed with the recommendations but said implementation depends on the agency getting its new confirmed leader in place.
Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.
