Trump comforts Texas
President Trump embraced the role of comforter in chief Saturday as he hugged children at a Hurricane Harvey relief center, handed out lunches and chatted with storm victims during a two-state tour of the devastated region.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump visited a military reserve base in Houston, a shelter and a church, and made an impromptu stop in a suburb where residents were cleaning out their drenched belongings.
“These are people that have done a fantastic job holding it together,” Trump marveled.
Earlier, he told reporters that he was seeing “a lot of love” and “a lot of happi- ness” as he met the victims.
He donned plastic gloves to hand out hot dogs in white containers at Houston’s NRG Center, which is serving as a shelter.
Of the kids at the convention center, the president said, “They’re doing great,” and he hoisted one little girl in the air and gave her a smooch on the cheek.
He pointed to “fantastic” cooperation among federal, state and local officials.
“There’s a lot of water, but it’s moving out,” he said.
The water was still rising, though, in areas north of Houston as evacuation orders went out with the Brazos River cresting.
Rescues continued in the Port Arthur, Texas, area as the Coast Guard sent in 27 boats, the Houston Chronicle reported.
An elderly woman was found Saturday
floating face-down in water in her flooded Port Arthur home.
The storm’s death toll rose to at least 47, with more than a dozen still missing.
Among the missing was a 6month-old girl swept from her parents’ arms by the current as they fled their truck.
In hard-hit Beaumont, officials worked to restore the water supply to the city of 120,000.
Residents waited in a mile-long line Friday to get bottled water.
In Katy, Texas, west of Houston, about 200 people rallied to demand answers about when they would be let back into their flooded homes.
The school year was thrown into chaos, with Houston officials announcing that as many as 12,000 students would have to be relocated and that some 200 schools had standing water.
Houston Texans star J.J. Watt raised more than $16 million, and Houston Rockets superstar James Harden said on Saturday that he would donate $1 million to the city for the recovery effort.
Trump has also pledged to give $1 million personally.
His administration has requested $7.85 billion as the first blast of relief and recovery money for Harvey victims.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said lawmakers would “act quickly” on the request, and House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted that he, too, was on board.
“We’re signing a lot of documents now to get money into your state — $7.9 billion,” Trump said. “And now it’s going through a very quick process.”
In Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner said people who had chosen to stay in inundated homes in the western part of the city must depart by 7 a.m. CT Sunday, after which the CenterPoint Energy utility will turn off power to those residences.
That’s in part because of fears for the safety of firefighters, who would have trouble responding to emergencies there.
The president’s tour — which included a stop in Lake Charles, La. — was his second to the area since Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25.
Last week, he was criticized for not meeting with victims.
The Trumps spent time at a Pearland, Texas, church that was serving as a distribution center for food, water, toiletries and cleanup supplies.
He and the first lady helped load buckets and boxes into pickup trucks and SUVs and stopped to speak at length with several of the vehicles’ drivers.
“It’s good exercise,” Trump said as one recipient drove off.
Volunteer Elaine Ybarra, 41, said it was “quite humbling to have somebody of his stature come to this church.
“Him being here and bringing global attention to everything that’s going on here, he brings up prayers from around the world,” Ybarra said.
Trump declared Sunday a National Day of Prayer for the millions harmed by Harvey and for those at work in rescue and recovery efforts.