KERRVILLE — President Donald Trump said Friday he’s witnessed the damage caused by past hurricanes and tornadoes but never seen anything like the devastation wrought by the recent flash flooding in Texas Hill Country.
“Trees that are 100 years old just ripped out of the ground,” Trump said after surveying the area with state leaders and receiving a briefing from emergency management officials. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Trump traveled to Texas to meet with local officials and first responders in the region devastated on July 4 by floods that killed at least 121 people.
His comments came at a roundtable at a local community center and staging area that included key members of his Cabinet, along with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, state lawmakers, Congressional Republicans from Texas and local leaders.
A “Texas Strong” sign hung in front of Trump as he promised to put the power of the White House behind relief efforts.
The visit came as some Democrats question whether staffing cuts or budget concerns hampered the federal response to the flooding. Trump also was asked by a reporter about families frustrated they didn’t receive timely alerts to the flooding.
Trump pushed back on such questions, calling those who ask it “evil” and saying everyone in the room did an “incredible job” — and that the public knows it.
“It’s easy to sit back and say, ‘Oh, what could have happened here or there? You know, maybe we could have done something differently,’” Trump said. “This was a thing that’s never happened before.”
Before the roundtable, he and first lady Melania Trump stopped with Abbott and other officials near the Guadalupe River, in front of an overturned tractor trailer and piles of debris as they listened to details of the disaster.
During his remarks, Trump compared the rapid rise of the flash flood to “a giant, giant wave in the Pacific Ocean that the best surfers in the world would be afraid to surf.”
After the briefing from Texas Emergency Management and Kerrville Fire Department officials, Trump shook hands with about 30 rescue workers and Coast Guard members.
Residents gathered at some nearby corners after the event was over to wave at Trump’s motorcade as it headed back to his waiting helicopter.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have called for oversight hearings and investigations, writing letters requesting documents from key federal agencies about the response.
They have questioned whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency has adequate staffing after administration cuts and highlighted Trump’s talk of overhauling the agency.
Texas Republicans at the table praised the administration for responding quickly to their request for assistance by providing funding and deploying personnel to the area.
Abbott thanked Trump for a federal response to the disaster that he characterized as remarkably swift, including a quick disaster declaration that allowed resources to flow.
Abbott said the state remains committed to helping the area affected by the flooding.
“We’re here for the long run,” Abbott said. “We will maintain our operations to search and find everybody that we can, as well as ensure that we’re going to rebuild this community, from Hunt to Camp Mystic to Kerrville, down below.”
He said the state will look to rebuild the area better than before and said some of that work will be featured in the Legislature’s special session, set to begin in 10 days.
The community center where Trump appeared will be the site in the last week of July for the second of a pair of scheduled Texas House and Senate Joint Select Committee hearings on the disaster, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. The first hearing will be in Austin on July 23.
Trump told Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem she did a “fantastic job.”
Noem has talked about restructuring FEMA to make it more nimble, while critics say the administration risks undermining future disaster responses.
“What we are doing here, sir, is empowering the state and the local officials to make the best decisions for their people, because they know their people, they know their community, and when they ask, then we come in and support them,” Noem said.
Trump was also acting as consoler-in-chief, a role that has fallen to many presidents in the wake of horrible tragedies that shock the country.
He talked about the catastrophic floodwaters that claimed so many lives while people were sleeping. He focused in on Camp Mystic, a well-known girls Christian summer camp hit by the flooding.
“They were there because they loved God,” Trump said of the campers. “And as we grieve this unthinkable tragedy, we take comfort in the knowledge that God has welcomed those little, beautiful girls into his comforting arms in heaven.”
About 160 people are still missing as search and recovery teams worked in towns up and down the Guadalupe River.
Among those who traveled to Texas with Trump on Air Force One were the state’s Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, as well as U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston.
Also on board were U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, both of whom have Texas ties.
Shortly before Trump left the White House Friday morning, Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought spoke with reporters about FEMA.
“FEMA has $13 billion in its reserves right now to continue to pay for the necessary expenses,” Vought said, adding that “the president has said to Texas, anything it needs it will get.”
He continued that, at the same time, “we also want FEMA to be reformed. We want FEMA to work well ... the president is going to continue to be asking tough questions of all of his agencies.”