President Donald Trump and first girl Melania Trump departed to go to Kerrville, Texas, Friday, following huge floods within the area which have taken the lives of greater than 120 individuals.
The Trumps are anticipated to satisfy with native officers and first responders who’re navigating the aftermath of flash floods that devastated the Central Texas neighborhood, after the Guadalupe River surged greater than 22 toes in only a matter of hours.
Amongst those that died within the flooding have been not less than 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer season camp based almost 100 years in the past for ladies. In the meantime, greater than 160 persons are lacking and unaccounted for in Kerry County, Texas, following the floods, in line with officers.
The White Home disclosed Monday that Trump would go to the flood web site to witness the devastation.
“I will be taking place on Friday with the primary girl, and we can be taking a visit,” Trump mentioned Tuesday at a Cupboard assembly. “And we do not wish to get in anybody’s method, as a result of, you already know, it is what occurs. The president goes, and everybody’s round centered. I do not need anybody to concentrate on us, nevertheless it’s doable they may have.”
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The Trump administration has confronted scrutiny from Democrats for its response to the catastrophe, notably for a brand new coverage that Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem authorised in June, earlier than the floods, that requires her to log out on any division bills, together with disaster-related bills, which can be greater than $100,000.
Noem reportedly waited greater than 72 hours after the flooding began earlier than she authorised the deployment of the Federal Emergency Administration Company’s (FEMA) City Search and Rescue groups, in line with CNN.
In the meantime, Noem dismissed the report’s credibility throughout a phase on “Fox & Associates” on Thursday, claiming the report was “pretend information.”
The Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), which oversees FEMA, advised Fox Information Digital that the company has “taken an all-hands-on-deck strategy” in responding to the disaster, when requested concerning the CNN report.
“The previous processes are being changed as a result of they failed Individuals in actual emergencies for many years,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin mentioned in an announcement to Fox Information Digital.
Trump additionally defended his administration’s response and mentioned on the White Home throughout a Tuesday Cupboard assembly that “you had individuals there as quick as anyone’s ever seen.”
Nonetheless, the catastrophe creates uncertainty about the way forward for FEMA, since Trump has referred to as for large reforms to the company.
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Trump mentioned in June that he wished to “wean off of FEMA, and we wish to carry it again to the state stage.”
White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned that the way forward for FEMA is an ongoing dialogue, when requested whether or not the flood had prompted Trump to re-evaluate his place on overhauling FEMA.
“The president needs to make sure Americans all the time have what they want throughout instances of want,” Leavitt advised reporterson Monday. “Whether or not that help comes from states or the federal authorities, that’s a coverage dialogue that may proceed. And the president has all the time mentioned he needs states to do as a lot as they will, if no more.”
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In the meantime, Noem lauded FEMA’s efforts responding to the catastrophe in the course of the Cupboard assembly, at the same time as some lawmakers like Rep. Jared Moscowitz, D-Fla., have referred to as for an investigation into stories of a delayed FEMA response.
“FEMA has been deployed, and we’re slicing by way of the paperwork of the previous FEMA, streamlining it very like your imaginative and prescient of how FEMA ought to function,” Noem mentioned. “It’s been a a lot better response to assist these households get by way of this horrible scenario.”
