'Filled with grief and devastation' : Trump surveys Texas flood damage. Live updates
During a roundtable after meeting with victims' families and local officials, Trump recounted how the Guadalupe River overflowed – 'a little narrow river becomes a monster.'
"This is a tough one," Trump said. 'It's hard to believe the devastation."
The president applauded emergency officials for their response and rejected concerns about whether communities along the Guadalupe River were adequately prepared for the disaster.
"Only a very evil person would ask a question like that," Trump said.
First lady Melania Trump said she was moved by meeting with victims' families.
"We are grieving with you," she said at the roundtable. "Our nation is grieving with you."
Over 120 people have been recovered since heavy rainfall overwhelmed the Guadalupe River and flowed through homes and summer camps in the early morning hours of July 4. Ninety-six of those killed were in the hardest-hit county in central Texas, Kerr County, where the toll includes at least 36 children.
State officials vowed to continue searching for over 160 people still missing but have acknowledged the dwindling chances of finding survivors alive a week after the disaster. The last time rescue teams made a "live rescue" was on the day the flood broke out.
The president, first lady and a host of lawmakers and cabinet members made the trip to Texas Friday as questions linger over what could have been done to save more lives from one of the deadliest floods of the last 25 years.
More: See how the Texas floods unfolded and why Camp Mystic was in a hazardous location
Trump dismissed a reporter's question about whether emergency alerts went out in time before the flooding surged to crisis levels and said people should instead focus on the "unity' and 'competence' displayed after the floods.
'I think everybody did an incredible job under the circumstances,' Trump said. 'Only a very evil person would ask a question like that.'
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called it a once-in-a-1,000-year flood. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said the reporter's question was "ridiculous."
'We'll figure out how to make our systems the best they can be," he said. Roy said the "enduring images" of the flood will be of girls from Camp Mystic singing as they evacuated the scene. 'That's who the people of Texas are," he said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, described a horrifying scene at Camp Mystic, where the water line on a cabin showed the floodwaters rose 8 feet, blowing out the windows and sweeping away the girls inside.
'I've never seen anything more horrible in my life,' said Cruz, who said he broke down and wept.
Governor Greg Abbott activated emergency response resources July 11 at the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
"Texas continues to stand ready to deploy all necessary resources to support Texans as severe storms move across our state,' said Governor Abbott. "I urge Texans to remain weather-aware and heed the guidance of state and local officials to ensure the safety of themselves and their loved ones."
Emergency resources include swiftwater rescue team boats capable of rescuing people swept up in floodwaters.
Abbott activated emergency resources in response to heavy rainfalls the National Weather Service predicted for parts of Northwest Texas, far West Texas, North Texas, the Big Country, Permian Basin, Concho Valley and the Hill Country, the same area devastated by the Fourth of July floods.
Rainfall is expected to begin overnight and continue through the weekend, Abbott said.
John Dunn, the longtime owner of The Hunt Store in Kerrville, told Trump he planned to rebuild the beloved spot despite concerns from patrons that it was a total loss.
'I'm absolutely going to bring it back,' Dunn said of the store he sold earlier this year. 'We're going to get it opened very quickly.'
'We will rebuild the Hunt Store right here,' Gov, Greg Abbott said, doubling down on Dunn's remarks. 'We are going to rebuild this community.'
More than 12,000 volunteers have flocked to Kerrville County to help with search and recovery efforts and 19 states have sent resources, Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas division of emergency management, told Trump.
Officials at the Alamo fort in San Antonio lowered the Texas state flag to half-mast, according to videos shared by staffers on social media.
'Our hearts are with the families and communities of the Hill Country,' fort staffers said in a post from the official Alamo X account.
The fort is a U.S. National Historic Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to the National Park Service.
Among Texans it holds a deeply symbolic significance. A small group fighting for independence from Mexico was 'annihilated' there in 1836, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. The death of figures at the fort, including former Tennessee congressman David 'Davy' Crockett, became a rallying cry for the state: 'Remember the Alamo.'
The president arrived at a roundtable discussion with first responders late Friday afternoon after meeting with the relatives of the flood victims. Trump sat behind a black banner marked with the phrase 'Texas Strong.'
'I think this is a good reason to be late,' Trump said, sitting behind a black banner that read 'Texas Strong.'
The first lady said young girls gave her a bracelet they made to honor victims of the floods and vowed to return to Texas' Hill Country.
"We are here to honor them," she said of the campers and counselors who passed away.
A San Antonio man was charged July 10 for allegedly threatening President Donald Trump, the Justice Department announced.
Robert Herrera, 52, commented on a San Antonio news outlet's Facebook post pertaining to Trump's planned visit to the Texas Hill Country, according to court records.
'I won't miss,' Herrera allegedly posted, along with a picture of Trump surrounded by Secret Service agents immediately after the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
After an exchange with another poster, Herrera allegedly posted a picture of an assault rifle with loaded magazines.
Herrera was charged with making threats against a president and making interstate threatening communications. He faces a maximum five years in prison on each charge if convicted.
'To be clear, these types of threats will not be taken lightly, and we will always take a swift, aggressive approach, as was done here,' U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons said in the Western District of Texas.
— Bart Jansen
Shortly after Trump arrived in Texas, his motorcade stopped near the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, where an overturned tractor trailer and numerous downed trees littered the area, according to reporters traveling with him.
Similar debris was visible throughout the president's drive from the Kerrville-Kerr County airport to the river. Pockets of residents standing in strip-mall parking lots waved as the president drove by them.
At Louise Hays Park, Trump, the first lady and Gov. Greg Abbott stood next to a red-and-white engine from the Kerrville Fire Department as they listened and nodded to a 10-minute briefing. Trump shook hands with about 30 emergency workers after the briefing and posed for pictures.
Trump and the first lady then met with dozens of federal, state and local officials at the Happy State Bank Expo Hall in Kerrville, where he later hosted a round table. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz were among the attendees.
- Bart Jansen and Joey Garrison
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have called on multiple government agencies to produce documents and communications about the lead-up and response to the deadly Texas floods.
In a series of letters, Texas Reps. Greg Casar and Jasmine Crockett – backed by ranking member Robert Garcia, of California, – expressed concern over FEMA's response to the crisis and the potential impacts of DOGE cuts on the National Weather Service.
"We are deeply concerned not only that Secretary Noem may have effectively crippled the agency's ability to respond to this crisis, but also that she failed to personally act to ensure a timely response," the members wrote in a letter to FEMA. Other letters were sent to the Department of Commerce Inspector General and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The White House on Friday said that FEMA has $13 billion in reserves that it can draw on to assist victims of the Texas floods.
Here's a breakdown of the Texas flooding death toll, according to county officials:
Kerr County: 96
Travis County: 8
Kendall County: 8
Burnet County: 5
Williamson County: 3
Tom Green County: 1
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday announced a 24/7 crisis support line for residents impacted by the deadly floods that pummeled the state one week ago.
The Texas Flooding Emotional Support Line will provide callers with professional crisis counseling at no cost, according to the governor's office. Counselors will also help residents review their disaster recovery options and provide referrals to other programs. "This new statewide crisis support line will ensure survivors, families, and first responders have access to emotional support and crisis counseling as they work to heal and recover," Abbott said in a statement.
Aboard Air Force One, Trump left Washington Friday morning en route to Texas, where he plans to meet with family members of flood victims, first responders and local officials.
Accompanying Trump on the trip are Republican Texas U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler.
"Nobody can even believe it, such a thing," Trump said before boarding Air Force Once. "That much water that fast – without a dam break. You'd think a dam would have break for it to happen. A terrible thing."
The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has received more than $30 million in donations through the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, organizers announced Friday.
Texas Rep. Chip Roy thanked those who've donated to the fund and said he expects the donation totals to grow in the coming days as recovery operations continue across the region. He urged more people to donate to the relief fund, citing a challenging road to recovery.
"We're going to rebuild and we're going to be back better than ever," he said.
Ahead of Trump's Friday visit to Texas, the White House's budget chief told reporters the Federal Emergency Management Agency has the funding to assist in flood recovery efforts even as the Trump administration has talked about eliminating FEMA.
Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said FEMA has about $13 billion in its reserves to pay for necessary expenses in Texas.
'The president has said to Texas, anything it needs it will get,' Vought said, adding that, '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."
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday continued her call for FEMA to be eliminated in its current form. Her push comes as FEMA has deployed specialists and distributed supplies to the flooded areas in Texas.
"Federal emergency management should be state and locally led, rather than how it has operated for decades," Noem said.
"It has been slow to respond at the federal level. It's even been slower to get the resources to Americans in crisis, and that is why this entire agency needs to be eliminated as it exists today, and remade into a responsive agency."
Nearly a decade before disastrous floods ravaged the Texas Hill Country, the state's Division of Emergency Management denied requests from Kerr County for a $1 million grant to improve its flood warning system, records show.
In 2017, Kerr County requested the funds to build a flood warning system that would have upgraded 20 water gauge systems, added new water level sensors and posts, and created software and a website to distribute the information to the public in real-time.
The Texas Division of Emergency Management denied Kerr County's initial application, meeting minutes show. Kerr County applied again the following year, in 2018, when more federal funding became available after Hurricane Harvey. But meeting minutes indicate that Texas' emergency authority again did not approve it.
The Division of Emergency Management did not answer USA TODAY's specific questions about why the county's applications were rejected.
More: Texas county where campers died was denied money to boost warning systems
– Kenny Jacoby
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary flight restriction for counties in the Texas Hill County where search teams are traversing mangled riverbanks to recover victims of the deadly floods. The order restricts the use of aircrafts and drones operating without permission over the search area.
While drones have enabled rescuers to scour parts of the disaster zone that are otherwise inaccessible, unauthorized aircraft have hindered recovery efforts.
On Monday, July 7, a drone illegally operating in restricted airspace crashed into a helicopter involved in emergency operations. The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing and is out of service 'until further notice,' according to Kerr County. No injuries were reported.
Kerr County officials asked residents to avoid large debris piles until they've been searched thoroughly by crews scouring for flood victims.
"We are still looking for victims. If a pile is large enough to need heavy equipment to clean ... have the city send a search team to check the pile first," read a statement on the flood taskforce website. "This applies to big tangles where a person could be. Smaller piles are fine to be cleaned up."
This week search crews have shifted their focus to untangling towering mounds of wreckage along the Guadalupe River and throughout Kerr County, where at least 96 people have been killed.
A director of a Texas summer camp for girls who was known as the "heart and soul" of the program. Two grade-school age sisters found together after being swept away. A 23-year-old Texas police officer celebrating the Fourth of July with his family.
These are some of the more than 120 people killed by the disastrous floods that swept across the Texas Hill Country one week ago. Flooding-related deaths have been reported in at least six counties. The victims include summer camp directors, teachers, grandparents, parents and dozens of children.
Read the stories of those who lost their lives here.
More: 'We are heartbroken': Texas flood victims remembered by families and communities
In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press on Thursday, Trump said the Texas flood was a "once-in-every-200-year" event and said he supported the installation of an alarm system to warn of such emergencies.
"After having seen this horrible event, I would imagine you'd put alarms up in some form," Trump told NBC's Meet the Press on Thursday ahead of the trip, noting, "local officials were hit by this just like everybody else."
Questions remain about what more could have been done to warn residents of the flooding, which surged the Guadalupe River nearly 30 feet in less than an hour. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's legislative agenda for an upcoming special session includes discussions on flood warning systems, communications and natural disaster preparation and recovery.
Trump plans to visit the area on Friday, July 11, and meet with family members of flood victims and first responders during his trip, according to a White House official. Trump will also participate in a briefing and roundtable from local elected officials, the official said.
Trump and the first lady will land in Kerr County at 12:20 p.m., according to an official schedule.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Kathryn Palmer, Joey Garrison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas floods live updates: Trump surveys damage in flood-ravaged Texas
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