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United States President Donald Trump has lashed out at a reporter during a tour of a flash flooding site in central Texas, suggesting she was a “very evil person” for asking a question about whether the area’s warning alert system worked as well as it could have.
His response is unlikely to dampen mounting concerns about official preparations, which have refused to go away after the flash floods killed at least 120 people and left another 170 missing.
As he surveyed the damage from the deadly Fourth of July weekend floods in Texas that have killed at least 120 people, Trump appeared temporarily lost for words.
“We just were making a little tour of the area. It’s hard to believe the devastation. Trees that are 100 years old just ripped out of the ground. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
However, he soon recovered his composure.
‘Only a bad person would ask a question like that’
Trump has previously been fond of decrying officials in Democrat-run states hit by past natural disasters and tragedy.
However, during his visit to the Texas flood plain in America’s most populous Republican state, the president struck a far more sombre and sympathetic tone — highlighting the heartbreak of what happened while effusively praising elected officials and first responders.
When a reporter asked him about whether the warning alert system for the devastating floods worked as well as it could have, Mr Trump lashed out.
“Only a bad person would ask a question like that. I don’t know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask you a question that.”
Texas Republican Representative Chip Roy was on the tour with the president and backed his criticism of the reporter.
“The governor said it best when he said that pointing fingers is for losers,” he said.
“This state is about looking forward and we’ll figure out how to make our systems the best they can be. But importantly, when you see 26 feet of water rising a foot per minute, don’t go around pointing fingers.”
That’s something some locals, like nurse Aliz Treibs, agree with.
“I understand that everyone is attempting to assign fault and blame at the moment, and turn this into a political issue. However, I genuinely believe that this has been an awful, awful natural disaster that no one could have possibly controlled.”
But others, like the pastor at Christ is King church, Michael Bell, says there are people who should be held responsible for what happened, even if it’s unclear who they might be.
“I know there was something similar to this in 1987 that took some lives — not as extreme as this,” he said.
“But I know after that there were some discussions of some grander scale plans that could have been implemented to avoid catastrophe as regards to human life, you know?
“So, there will be some accountability that has to happen. Some changes need to be made for sure.”
Concerns over official handling of flood
Concerns about the official preparation for and response to the disaster have started at the top.
Some have asked if those federal government cuts could have weakened the flood preparations or response.
Dr Rick Spinrad — the former administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the National Weather Service — has told CNN that it’s impossible to say right now.
“A lot of the weather forecast offices now are not operating at full complement of staff, which means that you’re really putting an extra burden on these folks. I don’t know how much that was a factor in what happened in Texas,” he said.
But it’s at the state and local level where most of the questions are being asked.
Camp Mystic’s disaster plan was approved by Texas officials just two days before the floods swept away an estimated 27 campers and staff members.
The Department of State Health Services released records earlier this week showing the camp complied with a host of state regulations around procedures to be implemented in the case of a disaster.
It remains unclear what was in the plan and whether or not it was implemented.
Governor Gregg Abbott has scheduled a special session of the Texas Legislature, beginning on 21 July, which will discuss improving warning systems for weather events.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha says local officials will have their own review once they’ve completed the task of recovering those who perished in the floodwaters and cleaning up the area.
