Donald Trump was this Friday, July 11 to Texas on Friday, July 11 to observe the damage caused by floods left at least 120 dead, when the response of local and federal authorities is indicated.
The Texas center was beaten on July 4, on the day of the national holidays in the United States, due to torrential rains that caused sudden floods, surprising many inhabitants while they sleep.
Trees, dump tractor and debris of all kinds: the US president and his wife Melania could see the devastation, a week just after the disaster.
“Devastation is difficult to believe”
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said the US president during a round table with local authorities.
“The devastation is difficult to believe,” he added, citing “centenary trees that have simply been torn from the ground.”
For his part, Melania Trump expressed all her sympathy “to parents who have lost magnificent young souls.” “I will come back, I promise you,” he added.
In total, at least 120 deaths linked to floods have been identified, while authorities have more than 170 missing. Kerr County is the most affected with 96 dead, including 36 children. A Christian girl holiday camp, located in the town of Hunt, on the shores of the Guadalupe River, paid a heavy price: 27 children and monitors perished in the disaster.
The visit of the US President intervenes while the questions are more pressing about the management of the crisis by local authorities and the impact of budget cuts, sought by the Trump administration, in alert and rescue systems.
Asked shortly after the disaster to find out if I always intended to gradually eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Donald Trump replied that it was not time to talk about it.
Rescue delayed by bureaucratic obstacles
The Republican leader, who had previously declared that in the case of a disaster, emergency services had to be managed at the level of the states, he also quickly signed a disaster statement to provide Texas federal resources to Texas.
The immediate response to the disaster by the federal state “was rapid and effective,” insisted on internal security minister X, Kristi Noem on Thursday.
But the CNN channel says that FEMA rescue operations have been delayed by bureaucratic obstacles after a new rule adopted by the minister aimed at reducing expenses.
During the round table, Donald Trump denounced the democratic opposition “that he only wants to criticize”, but also certain questions from the press, even calling a journalist present as “evil.”
“Everyone in this room did an incredible job, and people know it,” he added.
Kerr’s County Sheriff, Larry Leitha, said he was alerted on Friday “around 4 or 5 am” for calls to rescue services.
According to the Ksat channel in Texan, a local firefighter requested at 4:22 AM the sending of “red code” alerts, an emergency message on the phones of the inhabitants of Hunt, the most affected town, while the waters of the Guadalupe River, supplied by torrential rains, increased dangerously.
However, according to these local media affiliated with CNN and ABC, the Sheriff’s office would have asked the firefighter to wait, time to obtain the authorization of a superior.
90 minutes behind alerts
According to the reports, the alerts of the “Red Code” were sent at least 90 minutes later, around 6 am, and the message took up to six hours to reach certain Hunt residents, according to Ksat.
Asked several times this week on this issue, local authorities have been expelled. Donald Trump assured him on Friday that “the governor and all” were now working to design a better alert system. “You will find something,” he said.
More than 2,000 rescuers, police and cinofilo equipment, supported by helicopters, excavate the area tirelessly for seven days to try to locate the disappeared, even if the possibilities of finding them alive are now small.
Source: BFM TV
