Trump expresses ‘anguish of entire nation’ after surveying Texas flood devastation

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited Central Texas on Friday to survey the devastation caused by the deadly flooding last week, as first responders and family members continue their search for the missing. The death toll in the state stands at 121, while more than 170 people are still missing. The president met with families of the victims and expressed the “anguish of our entire nation.”
“We just visited with incredible families that, I mean look, they’ve been devastated. They lost their child or two children. And, just hard to believe. I’ve never seen anything like it, a little narrow river that becomes a monster, and that’s what happened. But the first lady and I are here in Texas to express the love and support and the anguish of our entire nation in the aftermath of this really horrific and deadly flood.”

Trump met with local officials and first responders in Kerrville, Texas, as the death toll in the state stands at 121, according to local law enforcement and Gov. Greg Abbott.

The Trumps, along with Abbott, greeted first responders while standing before a Kerrville firetruck and a pile of felled trees before joining officials at a roundtable discussion.

More than 170 people are still missing after the deadly flash floods hit the region in the early morning of July 4. Drones, rescue teams, and volunteers are combing through debris, hoping to find answers for the families of the missing. The majority of the confirmed deaths took place in Kerr County, where the Trumps are visiting.

At least 27 campers and counsellors died at Camp Mystic, a girls’ summer camp with cabins along the river in a rural part of Kerr County near Hunt, in what the camp described as “catastrophic flooding”. Some survivors said they woke up to water rushing through the windows.

The president and the first lady were accompanied by Texas Republican Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, members of his Cabinet and other Texas lawmakers.

“It’s a horrible thing, a horrible thing,” the president told reporters Friday before leaving the White House. “Nobody can even believe it. That much water, that fast.”

‘This is a hundred-year catastrophe,’ says Trump

Trump has so far avoided assigning blame for the deaths, saying on Sunday, “I would just say this is a hundred-year catastrophe, and it’s just so horrible to watch.”

Since the deadly flash floods in Texas, Trump has remained conspicuously silent about his promises to do away with the federal agency in charge of disaster relief.

The Washington Post said in a report on Friday that the Trump administration has backed away from plans to abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but officials continued to dodge questions about the agency’s future and many are still calling for serious reforms, potentially sending much of its work to the states.