Texas Floods Highlight Risk of Climate Cuts, Low Coverage
A series of deadly floods in Texas Hill Country over the July 4 weekend underscore the danger of rollbacks and threats to federal programs for disaster relief and climate monitoring, while also showing the need for greater flood coverage uptake to avoid longer-term economic challenges.
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Meanwhile, the recent budget bill approved by Congress could put strain on state finances just as the Trump administration is pushing states to assume more responsibility over disaster recovery. States are already in a precarious position to do so — one Carnegie Endowment report from June found that the top 20 states by average federal disaster grant size could exhaust rainy day funds in a matter of months.
"States do not have enough money to backstop Medicaid, and all the other healthcare programs, and all the other social programs, and backstop natural resources or natural disasters," said Alan Rubin, a disaster recovery and municipal finance expert with Blank Rome Government Relations LLC, where he co-leads a severe weather recovery team.
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"Texas Floods Highlight Risk of Climate Cuts, Low Coverage," by Eli Flesch was published in Law360 Insurance Authority on July 10, 2025.