The president and first lady surveyed the flood damage and met with local officials and families of victims.
President Donald Trump visited Central Texas on July 11 for a first-hand look at damage from a devastating flood that claimed the lives of more than 120 people statewide, including more than 35 children.
Trump received a briefing from local officials in Kerr County, Texas, and met with the relatives of victims. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will join him.
“It’s a horrible thing … nobody can even believe it … that much water, that fast,“ Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One in Washington. ”We’re going to be there with some of the great families and others, the governor and everybody.”
Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, as well as Rep. Wesley Hunt, who hails from a Houston-area district not impacted by Hill Country flooding, are traveling with the president to the epicenter of the flooding.
The president signed a major disaster declaration for the hardest-hit area where he is visiting, according to a FEMA notice issued on July 6.
About 45 minutes before daybreak on July 4, the Guadalupe River that runs through much of Kerr County rose 26 feet, washing away homes, RVs, and vehicles.
More than 160 people remain missing in the area as recovery efforts continue along the river, which officials said rose so quickly the morning of July 4 that little could be done to save those in its path.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4 to cellphones and weather radios—more than three hours before the first reports of flooding at low-water crossings in Kerr County at 4:35 a.m. The warning was upgraded to a flash flood emergency at 4:03 a.m.
The alert included Hunt, the small town that is home to Camp Mystic. At least 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, the all-girl Christian camp located on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Hunt, died, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said on Wednesday.
