Trump visits Texas disaster zone before Harvey return
Donald Trump is expected arrived in Texas yesterday, aiming to show unity in the face of what he called the “terrible tragedy” wrought by monster storm Harvey’s devastating rains. But the US president and his wife Melania are not expected to visit Houston, America’s fourth largest city where rescuers are scrambling to reach hundreds of stranded people as Harvey appeared poised to strike again. They will instead make stops further west, including hard-hit Corpus Christi, for briefings on relief efforts after catastrophic flooding crippled southeastern parts of the vast state, the country’s second largest by size.
The medical examiner’s office for Harris County, which includes Houston, confirmed six deaths since Sunday “potentially tied to Hurricane Harvey.” The previous toll was three. “We are one American family,” Trump said Monday, eager to present himself as a unifying figure as he faced the first natural disaster of his presidency after seven months of leading a White House plagued by controversy, much of it self-generated.
He promised the federal government would be on hand to help Texas along the “long and difficult road to recovery” from the historic storm. But officials warned the danger has not yet passed, with more families still stranded or packed into emergency shelters and the tropical storm once more gathering strength on the Gulf coast. Trump has also declared a state of emergency in neighboring Louisiana, next in line for a downpour.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said more than 8,000 people, soaked and desperate, had been brought to shelters in this city of more than six million. Coast Guard commander Vice Admiral Karl Schultz told CNN he had 18 helicopters in Houston, and-weather permitting-about 12 in the air at any one time, alongside those of the National Guard. “If you can get to your roof, wave a towel. Leave a marking on the roof so helicopter crews can see you,” he said, describing the volume of emergency calls as “staggering.”
Harvey hit Texas on Friday as a Category Four hurricane, tearing down homes and businesses on the Gulf Coast before dumping an “unprecedented” nine trillion gallons of rainfall inland. The Texas bayou and coastal prairie rapidly flooded, but the region’s sprawling cities-where drainage is slower-were worst hit. Highways were swamped and residential streets were rapidly rendered uninhabitable, with power lines cut and dams overflowing.