Trump flies to flood-ravaged Texas as scrutiny of response mounts, 170 people still missing
US President Donald Trump lashed reporters, calling one ‘evil’, for raising concerns over delays in alerting people to the deadly flash flooding that claimed at least 120 people in Texas.
North America
Don't miss out on the headlines from North America. Followed categories will be added to My News.
US President Donald Trump lashed reporters, calling one ‘evil’, for saying some families were frustrated they weren’t warned of the deadly flash flooding that claimed at least 120 people in Texas sooner.
The Republican leader and First Lady Melania Trump were in The Hill Country of central Texas to meet first responders, victims’ families and local officials, a week after a rain-swollen river swept away houses, camp cabins, cars and people, including dozens of children.
During a roundtable discussion after touring Kerr County, the worst-affected area, Mr Trump described the disaster as “a hell of a situation” before praising both Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for their response, saying they both did an “incredible job”.
“This is a tough one. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Mr Trump said.
“I’ve gone to a lot of hurricanes, a lot of tornadoes. I’ve never seen anything like this. This is a bad one.”
Mr Trump then lashed out at reporters for questioning authorities’ response to the disaster and said he wanted to focus on solidarity with emergency workers and volunteers.
“All across the country, Americans’ hearts are shattered,” he said.
“I had to be here as president. The first lady wanted to be here.”
One reporter drew Mr Trump’s ire after saying some families affected by the floods had expressed frustration that warnings did not go out sooner.
“I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances,” he said. “I don’t know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that.”
The search for more than 170 missing people, including five girls who were at summer camp, was in its eighth day as rescue teams combed through mounds of debris and mud.
Since the tragedy, Mr Trump has brushed off questions about the impact of his funding cuts to federal agencies — including the National Weather Service — on the response to the floods.
In particular, Mr Trump’s plans to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — which co-ordinates the US government’s disaster response efforts — in lieu of greater state-based responsibility, have come under scrutiny.
FEMA began its response to the disaster over the weekend after the president signed a major disaster declaration to release federal resources.
But the president continues to sidestep questions about FEMA in relation to the floods — which he described as a “100-year catastrophe” that “nobody expected” — and why emergency evacuation messages to residents and visitors along the flooding Guadalupe River were reportedly delayed, in some cases by hours.
TRUMP’S TENDER GESTURE TO MELANIA
As the Trumps made their way from the plane at Kelly Field air base in San Antonio, the US President made a tender gesture to first lady Melania.
As the Trumps walked to meet first responders, victims’ families and local officials and observe the flood damage in Kerrville, the epicentre of the disaster, Mr Trump could be seen reaching out and placing his hand on his wife Melania’s back.
The Republican leader and First Lady Melania Trump flew by helicopter to The Hill Country of central Texas to meet those involved in search and rescue efforts, a week after a rain-swollen river swept away houses, camp cabins, recreational vehicles and people.
Well wishers and supporters lined the roadside to greet the President’s motorcade from the air base to Kerrville, where they monitored the flood damage.
The President and First Lady approached the scene of devastation, which included first responders, officials, and piles of twisted debris and snapped trees.
Governor Abbott uses a wheelchair due to a debilitating accident in 1984 when a large oak tree fell on him while jogging.
“We’re going to be there with some of the great families” of flood victims, Mr Trump told reporters before leaving the White House, calling the disaster a “terrible thing.”
The search for more than 170 missing people, including five girls who were at summer camp, entered the eighth day as rescue teams combed through mounds of debris and mud.
But with no live rescues reported this week, worries have swelled that the death toll could still rise.
Mr Trump expressed support for a flood warning system.
“After having seen this horrible event, I would imagine you’d put alarms up in some form, where alarms would go up if they see any large amounts of water or whatever it is,” Mr Trump told NBC News in a telephone interview.
“But the local officials were hit by this just like everybody else,” he said.
FOLLOW UPDATES BELOW:
CABINS WERE BUILT IN FLOOD ZONE
More than a dozen Camp Mystic cabins were in a known flood zone, with girls left without phones, internet or power when the devastating flash floods swept through the century-old summer destination in Texas last weekend.
Despite a recent multimillion-dollar overhaul of the Christian girls’ camp in Kerr County, the site still had limited to no flood defence, with some of the older campers resorting to shining flashlights from the cabins in an attempt to attract the attention of rescuers.
At least 19 cabins at Camp Mystic were located in designated flood zones, including some in an area deemed “extremely hazardous” by the county, analysis of federal data by the New York Times shows.
Six years ago, the camp — founded in 1926 — was expanded in a US$5 million construction project, but instead of relocating cabins to higher grounds, new ones were added in the flood zone, analysis shows.
The older cabins along the river also remained in use, data shows.
Some of the cabins were so close to the banks of the Guadalupe River that they were considered part of the river’s “floodway,” meaning any construction is either banned or extremely restricted by many states and counties.
Floodways were considered “an extremely hazardous area due to the velocity of floodwaters which carry debris, potential projectiles and erosion potential,” Kerr County said when it adopted new rules in 2020, one year after the Camp Mystic construction work, to limit new construction in floodways.
Even some of the new cabins, built on a hillside to the south of the main camp called Cypress Lake, were still in areas at risk of flooding, maps of the zone show.
The dangers posed by flash flooding in Kerr County were known for decades by Camp Mystic managers and emergency officials.
After 10 teenagers were killed by devastating flooding at a nearby camp in 1987, rain gauges were installed in the region to notify emergency personnel of imminent floods.
In addition, many of the campers and counsellors didn’t have their phones on them, as the children were not allowed access to any technology, camp counsellor Nancy Clement, 18, told the Times.
As rising floodwaters on July 4 took out the power, the camp lost all internet service and was cut off from the outside world.
Girls from one cabin ran to the office of a retired police officer kept on site to help provide security as floodwaters rose in the early hours of the holiday.
The camp owners drove between cabins to wake up the children, while a teen counsellor stood on a porch and flashed her flashlight on and off while screaming for help, Clement said.
Clement and several others began piling their belongings on top of their mattresses inside a staff cabin, before their door cracked in half and flood water poured in, she said.
Some of the women and girls climbed onto a windowsill and pulled themselves and others up onto the roof of the cabin.
Girls could be heard singing some of their camp songs about God’s love in a nearby building, Clement described.
One clung onto her phone, keys and a plushie toy she had owned since childhood as she waited for the water to recede, she said.
Another counsellor, Holly Kate Hurley, recalled the helplessness of being unable to look for the missing girls and counsellors.
“That was the hardest part — knowing there were girls out there fighting for their lives and there was nothing we could do,” she said.
A total of 27 children and staff members are known to have died in the flooding, while five young campers and one counsellor are still unaccounted for.
Camp Mystic passed a state inspection on July 2, just two days before the deadly flooding, with inspectors noting that emergency and evacuations were in place, although this was not detailed in the report.
– with AFP
More Coverage
Originally published as Trump flies to flood-ravaged Texas as scrutiny of response mounts, 170 people still missing
Join the conversation
31 injured as car ploughs into a nightclub crowd in Hollywood
Police and firefighters were called to a horrific car crash where a driver of an “unknown vehicle” ploughed into a crowd standing outside a nightclub in East Hollywood.
Read more
Trump’s huge move on Epstein files
After another week of drama surrounding convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump has finally bowed to pressure and has made a huge demand.
Read more