‘More than RM534b needed to recover’
HOUSTON: Texas could need more than US$125 billion (RM534 billion) from the United States government as it recovers from Tropical Storm Harvey, Governor Greg Abbott said on Wednesday.
He said Harvey’s scope exceeded that of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005. The US government allocated US$125 billion in aid to Katrina relief, and Abbott said he thought Harvey relief should be more given its size.
The storm, now weakened to tropical depression as it moved inland over Louisiana yesterday, left behind record flooding that drove tens of thousands from their homes in Texas, with the death toll rising as bodies were found in receding waters.
The storm that paralysed Houston is predicted to be one of the most expensive natural disasters in US history and presents the administration of US President Donald Trump with massive humanitarian and rebuilding
challenges.
The storm has killed at least 35 people and forced 32,000 people into shelters since coming ashore last Friday near Rockport, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico Coast as the most powerful hurricane to hit the state in half a century.
The Houston Fire Department began a block-by-block effort yesterday to rescue stranded survivors and recover bodies, Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann said.