Washington — President Trump expressed the “anguish of our whole nation” Friday after he and first woman Melania Trump met with households of the victims of final week’s lethal flooding in Central Texas.
The president and first woman surveyed the devastation in Kerrville, Texas, and met with first responders and native officers, as rescuers and households proceed their seek for the lacking.
“We simply visited with unbelievable households that, I imply, look, they have been devastated,” the president mentioned in a roundtable with state, federal and native officers in Kerrville. “They misplaced their baby, or two youngsters. And, simply onerous to consider. I’ve by no means seen something prefer it, a bit of slim river that turns into a monster, and that is what occurred. However the first woman and I are right here in Texas to specific the love and assist and the anguish of our whole nation within the aftermath of this actually horrific and lethal flood.”
Mr. Trump met with households behind closed doorways, away from cameras.
The loss of life toll within the state stands at 121, in keeping with native regulation enforcement and Gov. Greg Abbott. The Trumps, together with Abbott, greeted first responders in opposition to the backdrop of a Kerrville firetruck and a pile of felled bushes earlier than the roundtable.
Greater than 170 individuals are nonetheless lacking after flash floods consumed the area within the early morning of July 4. Drones, rescue groups and volunteers are combing by way of particles, hoping to search out solutions for the households of the lacking. The vast majority of the confirmed deaths occurred in Kerr County, the place the Trumps visited.
“We’re crammed with grief and devastation on the lack of life. And sadly they’re nonetheless trying. They’re nonetheless trying. There’s a whole lot of lacking youngsters,” the president mentioned.
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
At Camp Mystic, a ladies’ summer time camp with cabins alongside the river in a rural a part of Kerr County close to Hunt, at the very least 27 campers and counselors died in what the camp described as “catastrophic flooding.” Some survivors mentioned they woke as much as water speeding by way of the home windows.
The president landed in San Antonio on Air Power One earlier than a brief helicopter experience introduced him and the primary woman to Kerrville. He was accompanied on his go to by Texas Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, members of his Cupboard and different Texas lawmakers.
“It is a horrible factor, a horrible factor,” the president informed reporters Friday earlier than leaving the White Home. “No person may even consider it. That a lot water, that quick.”
Jacquelyn Martin / AP 
Mr. Trump has prevented assigning blame for the deaths, saying on Sunday that it was “a hundred-year disaster, and it is simply so horrible to observe.”
The president mentioned he would have visited Central Texas sooner however did not wish to be “of their means” as rescuers proceed their work. Mr. Trump has signed a catastrophe declaration for the area, permitting the Federal Emergency Administration Company to deploy its personal groups to assist native rescue and restoration efforts as these operations press on.
After the catastrophic flooding, the primary woman wrote on X, “My coronary heart goes out to the dad and mom in Texas throughout this tough time. I’m holding you in my ideas and sending prayers for energy, consolation, and resilience.”
