LOUISIANA IN JAWS OF MONSTER HARVEY
Storm makes landfall in Louisiana Trump tries to strike unifying tone as he visits coastal city in Texas
New Orleans, Aug. 30: Monster storm Harvey made landfall again on Wednesday in Louisiana evoking painful memories of Hurricane Katrina’s deadly strike 12 years ago as time was running out in Texas to find survivors in the raging floodwaters.
While Harvey is technically packing less of a wallop as a tropical storm, heavy rains are still drenching parts of southeastern Texas and neighboring southwestern Louisiana complicating rescue missions and compounding the misery for millions of Americans.
President Donald Trump was planning a second trip to Texas on Saturday, and may go to Louisiana as well, the White House said. Harvey made its second landfall just west of the Louisiana town of Cameron, not far from the Texas border packing maximum sustained winds nearing 45 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Centre said.
Forecasters are predicting another 5-10 inches of rain in the region with the downpour finally expected to stop on Thursday. For now, southwestern Louisiana was taking the hardest hit, but New Orleans proper appeared to have dodged a bullet, with minimal rain.
The arrival of the storm was nevertheless bittersweet for many in New Orleans coming just one day after the 12-year anniversary of Katrina, which ravaged the vulnerable city famous for its jazz music and cuisine.
“I began to pray for the people in Texas after having gone through that same experience myself as a Katrina survivor,” said Crystal Harris, who works for the Second Harvest Food Bank, which was taking donations for storm victims.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump tried to strike a unifying
tone as he visited the coastal city of Corpus Christi praising the work of state and federal officials in responding to the disaster. “We want to be looked at in five years, in 10 years from now as, this is the way to do it,” he said. Emerging from a briefing held inside a fire station, Mr Trump climbed up a ladder for an impromptu address to the mix of supporters and banner-waving protesters gathered outside.
“We love you, you are special, we are here to take care of you,” the President called out. “It’s historic, its epic, but I tell you, it happened in Texas — and Texas can handle anything.”