Hit by winter storm, Texas set to be declared a ‘major disaster’
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said on Friday he was ready to declare a “major disaster” in storm-slammed Texas as soon as the declaration hits his desk, and that he would travel to the state as long as he was not a burden to local authorities.
Millions of residents in the state are struggling with power outages after a major winter storm. “As I said when I ran, I’m going to be a president for all Americans,” said Biden, who was defeated last fall in Texas by former president Donald Trump.
“If I can do it without creating a burden for folks, I plan on going,” he added. The visit is being planned for next week.
Biden has also asked his team to expedite the request about the disaster declaration, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. Biden will have a call with the acting administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) later on Friday, Psaki added.
The White House has also been in touch with mayors and county officials in the state to make sure they were connected to FEMA and have access to resources within the federal government, an administration official said separately.
Frustrated Texans queued for hours for safe drinking water on Friday, after the unprecedented and deadly “polar plunge” burst pipes and left millions in the US state shivering without power or clean water for days.
The extreme winter weather system wreaked havoc across much of the southern and central United States this week, reportedly killing dozens of people and igniting anger in Texas as authorities scrambled to turn the lights back on.
Houston resident Percy Mcgee rated his frustration level at “number 10” as he waited his turn at the city’s Delmar Stadium, now a mass bottled water distribution site.
“I’ve been up since five o’clock. And I’ve been on the road since six. And I know it’s 11:30 but I’m gonna sit here until, I mean, I have no choice. All the stores in my area are out of water,” he told AFP.
“I’m very frustrated. I’m a diabetic. I have a 94-year-old senior as a diabetic. We haven’t had no medicine. Nothing... So I’m really frustrated mentally. But I’m keeping it together,” he said.
On Friday the weather system was slowly moving northeast, where hardy New Englanders far more used to scouring winter storms than residents of the Lone Star state - were battening down.
But even as the temperature rose above freezing in Texas and the National Weather Service forecast weekend weather in the 10-15 Celsius - state governor Greg Abbott said some 165,000 people were still without power. Water pressure problems meant nearly seven million Texans were being advised to boil their water before drinking it or using for cooking, said Texas commission on environmental quality officials.