When the waters recede

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aist-deep in a deluge that has poured 15 trillion gallons of water and counting on their state, Texans must first and foremost be rescued by the volunteers, firefighters, police officers, members of the National Guard and others who continue to rise to the occasion.

If you, dear reader, are safe and dry and have money to spare, give a little or a lot to the Red Cross or other reputable aid agencies.

Then, as Texas’ underwater cities give way to mold and rot and years of painstaking reconstruction, the nation must quickly turn to the task of rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey — for which the state received necessary assurance Monday.

In remarks at the White House, President Trump pledged: “I think you’re going to see very rapid action from Congress, certainly from the President.” And: “It’s going to go fast.” From his lips to the Capitol’s ears. Texas, take it from New York and the savage political storm that followed Hurricane Sandy: No stricken community anywhere in this nation should have to endure months of needless uncertainty over federal funding to rebuild roads, schools, homes, economies and lives.

A calamity of historic proportions demands a federal aid response to match. Congress must show no hesitation in allocating funds sufficient to help the residents of Houston and coastal Texas communities rebuild. Private insurers must do their part, too.

To reconstruct submerged roadways. To help homeowners start fresh. To aid businesses either washed away or in limbo, in a region paralyzed.

The job is made more difficult by the fact that Houston, a city battered by perennial flooding before this flood to end all floods hit, is geographically prone to being washed away. Intelligent rebuilding that doesn’t risk throwing good money after bad may cost more — if much of Houston is going to remain so vulnerably located.

As it does its job, Congress must override Trump’s poor choice to rip up rules that required infrastructure funded with federal dollars to be flood-resistant — lest billions of taxpayer dollars to be invested wash away again.

And please, please, please, for the love of the good people of Texas, do not get sidetracked by Trump’s threatened budget brinksmanship in pursuit of a costly border wall with Mexico.

Even as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Texas authorities and relief groups scramble to secure temporary shelter for the stricken, FEMA Administrator Brock Long and U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson need to conceptualize a sturdy federal role in rebuilding, drawing hard-won lessons from Katrina, Irene, Sandy and other storms.

Only effective actions will answer cries for relief.