President Donald Trump will visit Texas on Tuesday to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, the White House announced on Sunday. Earlier in the day, Trump had tweeted that he would not visit Texas until it would not be a distraction.
I will be going to Texas as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption. The focus must be life and safety.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
The storm dumped over two feet of rain on the state, and the city of Houston suffered heavy flood damage. There have been harrowing images of flooded roadways and daring rescues. A Houston news station was forced to stop broadcasting and evacuate the studio as the floodwaters began to rise.
A reporter in Houston spotted a truck driver stuck in the flood. She was able to flag down police who saved his life live on TV. Holy crap. pic.twitter.com/v2nNjxJ12P
— Jessie ???? (@JMKTV) August 27, 2017
The residents of a nursing home were safely evacuated after a photo of them lounging in floodwater went viral on Twitter.
Startling image of waist-deep flood waters in Texas nursing home prompts emergency evacuation of its 20-25 residents https://t.co/exk6BNO5ZG pic.twitter.com/1j8MGEZ5nH
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 27, 2017
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) lavished praise on the federal response to the disaster, saying that everyone has done an "A+" job. Abbott said that he has spoken to Trump numerous times, and and that FEMA had been very helpful with disaster relief efforts.
"I've got to tell you, I give FEMA a grade of A+, all the way from the president down," Abbott said. "I've spoken to the president several times, to his Cabinet members, such as secretary of homeland security, such as the administrator of FEMA, such as Tom Price, the secretary of health and human services."
"All across the board, from the White House to the federal administration to FEMA, they've been very helpful," Abbott said.
So far, at least five people have been killed by the storm.
