Trump visits Texas flood zone, defends government's disaster response

President Donald Trump defended the authorities and national effect to deadly flash flooding successful Texas connected Friday arsenic helium visited the stricken Hill Country region, wherever astatine slightest 120 people, including dozens of children, perished a week ago.

During a roundtable treatment aft touring Kerr County, the epicenter of the disaster, Trump praised some Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for their response, saying they some did an "incredible job."

The Trump administration, arsenic good arsenic section and authorities officials, has faced mounting questions implicit whether much could person been done to support and pass residents up of the flooding, which struck with astonishing velocity successful the pre-dawn hours connected July 4, the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

Trump reacted with choler erstwhile a newsman said immoderate families affected by the floods had expressed vexation that warnings did not spell retired sooner.

"I deliberation everyone did an unthinkable occupation nether the circumstances," helium said. "I don't cognize who you are, but lone a precise evil idiosyncratic would inquire a question similar that."

Some critics person questioned whether the administration's spending cuts astatine the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which coordinates the U.S. government's catastrophe effect efforts, mightiness person exacerbated the calamity.

Trump officials person said that cuts had nary interaction connected the NWS's quality to forecast the storms, contempt immoderate vacancies successful section offices.

But the president has mostly sidestepped questions astir his plans to shrink oregon abolish FEMA and reassign galore of its cardinal functions to authorities and section governments.

"I'll archer you immoderate different time," Trump said connected Tuesday, erstwhile asked by a newsman astir FEMA.

Before the astir caller flooding, Kerr County declined to instal an early-warning strategy aft failing to unafraid authorities wealth to screen the cost.

Lawrence Walker, 67, and a astir three-decade seasoned nonmigratory of Kerrville, said the region and authorities had not spent capable connected catastrophe prevention, including an early-warning system.

Asked astir the prime of the authorities response, helium said, "It's been good since the h2o was astatine 8 feet."

The Texas authorities legislature volition convene successful a peculiar league aboriginal this period to analyse the flooding and supply catastrophe alleviation funding.

Abbott has dismissed questions astir whether anyone was to blame, calling that the "word prime of losers."

Search teams connected Friday were inactive combing done muddy debris littering parts of the Hill Country successful cardinal Texas, looking for the dozens inactive listed arsenic missing, but nary survivors person been recovered since the time of the floods.

Heavy rains sent a partition of h2o raging down the Guadalupe River aboriginal connected July 4, causing the deadliest catastrophe of the Republican president's astir six-month word successful office.

As prima poked done acheronian clouds connected Friday morning, hunt crews successful hard hats painstakingly walked inch-by-inch on the ruined banks of the river, marking harm and looking done wreckage.

After the president arrived successful Kerr County successful the aboriginal afternoon, Trump, archetypal woman Melania Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott drove to an country adjacent the river, wherever Trump received a briefing from archetypal responders amid debris near successful the aftermath of the flood.

The region is located successful what is known arsenic "flash flood alley," a portion that has seen immoderate of the country's deadliest floods.

More than a ft of rainfall fell successful little than an hr connected July 4. Flood gauges showed the river's tallness roseate from astir a ft to 34 feet (10.4 meters) successful a substance of hours, cascading implicit its banks and sweeping distant trees and structures successful its path.

Kerr County officials accidental much than 160 radical stay unaccounted for, though experts accidental that the fig of radical reported missing successful the aftermath of disasters is often inflated.

The dormant successful the region see 67 adults and astatine slightest 36 children, galore of whom were campers astatine the astir century-old Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summertime retreat connected the banks of the river.

Jon Moreno, 71, a longtime Kerrville nonmigratory whose spot connected precocious crushed was spared, praised the authorities effect - section and federal.

He has heard the statement astir what much could person been done - including sirens - but said helium did not deliberation it would person made overmuch difference, fixed people's tendency to physique on the flood-prone riverbanks.

"It's unavoidable," helium said. "All those radical on the stream - I wouldn't privation to unrecorded determination ... It's excessively dangerous."

At Stripes, a state presumption successful Kerrville, the gathering was tagged successful ample achromatic letters, accusing "Trump's Big Beautiful Bill" of cutting "our exigency funding."

The president's monolithic legislative package, which chopped taxes and spending, won support from the Republican-controlled Congress past week and was signed into instrumentality by Trump connected the aforesaid time that the flooding deed Texas.