President Trump visits Central Texas as flood recovery continues
One week after catastrophic floodwaters tore through Central Texas, President Donald Trump is traveling to the region today to witness the devastation firsthand.
(NBC)- One week after catastrophic floodwaters tore through Central Texas, President Donald Trump is traveling to the region today to witness the devastation firsthand and meet with survivors, volunteers, and emergency responders. The president tours flood-ravaged areas described as the “broken heart of a national tragedy,” where more than 2,000 first responders and an army of volunteers continue working around the clock to reunite victims with their families.
“We’ll stay until we get it done,” says disaster specialist Larry Mynar. “We want them to have closure.”
As recovery efforts intensify, questions mount about whether more could have been done to protect residents. In a phone interview with NBC News, President Trump acknowledges the tragedy caught many off guard.
“In retrospect, after having seen this horrible event, I would imagine you’d put up alarms,” he says, while defending local officials who he says “loved” the victims and were unprepared for the storm’s magnitude.
Records from a 2016 Kerr County meeting reveal that officials previously flagged the region’s flood warning system as “pretty antiquated.” Now, scrutiny grows over how quickly emergency alerts are issued to residents.
At the federal level, the White House insists that budget cuts have not impacted the National Weather Service’s ability to issue warnings. When asked about his previous push to phase out FEMA, President Trump says, “Well, FEMA is something we can talk about later. But right now, they’re busy working, so we’ll leave it at that.” Amid the loss and destruction — from Camp Mystic to neighborhoods along the Guadalupe River — one local artist, Leo Soto, is creating a “Wall of Hope,” assembling photos to honor those who were lost.
“Thinking that there’s a family suffering behind each of those pictures really brings home the feeling of honoring the people that were lost,” Soto says.
