President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump met first responders and grieving families in Kerrville, Texas, on Friday ahead of a roundtable with local officials after flooding ravaged the Texas Hill Country last week, leaving extreme death and destruction in its wake.
The president and first lady met with what the White House press pool estimates is 30 first responders and guardsmen at a severely damaged site in Kerrville, Texas, shaking hands with all of them. This came after Texas Emergency Management and Kerrville Fire Department officials briefed Trump.
After meeting with the first responders, the president met privately with many of the family members who lost loved ones in the Guadalupe River flood on July 3rd and 4th.
Speaking at a roundtable at Happy State Bank Expo Hall in Kerrville, Trump opened his remarks by saying, “Well, this is a tough one,” and he has “never seen anything like it.”
“We just visited with incredible families that, I mean, look, they’ve been devastated. They lost their child, or two children, and just hard to believe,” he said, flanked by the first lady and Gov Greg Abbott (R-TX).
The death toll from the flooding surpassed 120 people on Friday, according to CNN, while another 160 souls, at least, remain unaccounted for after the Guadalupe River surged to extreme levels last week.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, a little narrow river that becomes a monster, and that’s what happened,” Trump said. “But the First Lady and I are here in Texas to express the love and support and the anguish of our entire nation in the aftermath of this really horrific and deadly flood.”
Trump, who noted he is praying for the families, also expressed his deep condolences for the many young girls who were attending Camp Mystic when their lives were claimed by the flood.
“They were there because they loved God. 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. We believe that. Have to believe that, and we do,” Trump said.
“And we lost some wonderful people beyond the little girls. We lost some very brave men and women that tried to save the girls. As a nation, we mourn for every single life that was swept away in the flood, and we pray for the families that are left behind,” he said.
The first lady expressed her deep sympathy for the families who have lost a loved one in the horrific tragedy.
“My deepest sympathy to all of the parents who lost beautiful young souls. Deepest sympathy from all of us to the community, to everybody who lost a loved one. We are grieving with you. Our nation is grieving with you,” she said.
“We just met with the wonderful families. We pray with them, we hug, we hold hands. They shared the stories,” she continued.
A group of young ladies gave her a bracelet from Camp Mystic, which she wore during the roundtable, to commemorate the young girls who were killed in the flood.
She shared that she promised the young ladies she would return.
“I just pray for them, and giving them my strength and love,” she said.
Abbott, who was there with other elected officials from Texas, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Cornyn (R-TX), Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, praised Trump and his team for their swift response to the flood, noting the Coast Guard was swiftly deployed.
“We cannot thank you enough for deploying the Coast Guard, deploying the resources,” Abbott said.
He also thanked Trump for his swift action in signing a disaster declaration for Kerr County.
“This is the fastest that I’m aware of of any administration responding so swiftly, so collaboratively, so coordinated as we have in response to this,” he told Trump.
“Thank you for that major disaster declaration. It ensures that we’re going to be able to more effectively respond and help rebuild,” Abbott added.
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