Trump Confirms Plans To Visit Flood-Stricken Texas As 170+ People Still Missing

President Donald Trump plans to travel to Texas on Friday to meet with victims of the devastating Fourth of July weekend flooding that led to at least 110 deaths. 

The president will be joined by first lady Melania Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, he confirmed during a Tuesday cabinet meeting. Parts of the Texas Hill Country along the Guadalupe River were hit with sudden flash floods and more than 170 people are still missing. 

“I’ll be going down on Friday with the first lady and we will be taking a trip. And we don’t want to get in anyone’s way because, you know, it’s what happens. The president goes, and everyone’s around focused. I don’t want anyone to focus on us,” Trump said. 

First responders are still searching for potential survivors as Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Tuesday that 161 people were missing in Kerr County and another 12 throughout other impacted areas. Emergency responders have rescued at least 850 people.

“They could have somebody saved still,” Trump said. “And, you know, probably unlikely at this point, but that could be. I mean, they’re thinking there could be the possibility, but, what a tragic situation.”

Trump also stated that the relationship between federal responders and Texas first responders was very good, noting that numerous federal helicopters were deployed to assist local rescuers.  

Earlier this week, Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Texas, and top administration officials have moved to offer federal help to the region.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared a public health emergency on Tuesday to surge healthcare resources to the region. The Department of Housing and Urban Development also announced a 90-day foreclosure moratorium on Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured single-family mortgages in Kerr County.

Dozens of children attending Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ camp in Kerr County, died in the flooding. Five girls and one counselor are still missing, according to an update provided on Tuesday. Flood victims included 8-year-old campers Renee Smajstrla and Eloise Peck, 19-year-old camp counselor Chloe Childress, and the camp’s 74-year-old director, Dick Eastland.

Other young victims include twin sisters Blaire and Brooke Harber, who were found 15 miles from where the flood waters washed them away from their grandparents’ cabin near the Guadalupe River. Their grandparents remain missing.