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US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump arrived in Houston today to witness the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, which pounded America’s fourth-largest city with apocalyptic floods that killed dozens and wrecked homes and businesses.
The sprawling Texas megacity was taking tentative steps back to normalcy after a week of acute flooding that damaged 40,000 to 50,000 homes and sent tens of thousands fleeing to emergency shelters.
The White House has asked Congress for $7.85 billion (about €6.6 billion) for Harvey-related “response and initial recovery efforts”, calling it a “down payment” on the long-term cost of recovering from the record flooding.
Harvey has been blamed for at least 42 deaths so far and tens of billions of dollars of damage.
Trump and First Lady Melania landed at a Houston air base earlier today and were whisked off in a convoy of dark SUVs accompanied by a delegation that included Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
At the city’s Convention Center, which was turned into a shelter for thousands at the peak of the crisis, University of Houston cheerleaders and the college’s furry cougar mascots stopped by to lift the spirits of evacuees.
“We’re here to hang out with the kids, to cheer people up,” one of the students in the group said, as evacuees waiting in line for federal aid vouchers waved and took photos.
Return visit
Trump is returning to Texas for his second visit since the megastorm hit, and will also visit neighbouring Louisiana later today.
On Tuesday, Trump stopped in the coastal city of Corpus Christi and the state capital of Austin. He has declared tomorrow a national day of prayer for victims of Hurricane Harvey.
As floodwaters are receding in Houston, nearby cities such as Beaumont — which had lost its water supply — and Port Arthur are struggling to recover.
One week after Harvey slammed into southeast Texas as a Category Four hurricane, rescuers were still out searching for people inside flooded homes.
The White House’s request for nearly $8 billion (about €6.7 billion) in emergency storm aid — made in a letter sent to House Speaker Paul Ryan yesterday — was $2 billion (about €1.7 billion) more than what the White House was expected to request, suggesting a rapid rise in needed funding as the scale of the disaster becomes clear.
White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, who said the administration would later be seeking an additional $6.7 billion (about €5.6 billion) for disaster relief, called on Congress to lift the US debt ceiling, warning that otherwise the outlays could be affected.
Meanwhile, rescuers in Port Arthur are still evacuating residents who refused to leave their homes during the storm.
Jonathan Caldwell, a former police officer, said he and some friends rescued about a dozen people in one flooded neighbourhood yesterday.
“We had little ones on our shoulders, wading through chest deep water this morning,” he said.
Drying Houston
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said most of the city was “now dry”, but urged residents living near two overflowing reservoirs to leave their homes.
Officials said most of the 15,000 to 20,000 residents have left. Some however are holding out – straining emergency workers who have to maintain services to them, including providing them with water.
There was a bright spot for Houston this weekend, as the Astros, the city’s major league baseball team, will be home for games.
The Astros abandoned their stadium this week for three games in Florida against the Texas Rangers.
“We hope that these games can serve as a welcome distraction for our city that is going through a very difficult time,” Astros president Reid Ryan said. “We hope that we can put smiles on some faces.”
They will host a game against the New York Mets today.
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Stick to primary school teaching….
@Me_a_monkey: I thought it a good article. Might have helped to show the swimsuit/ advert of the times discussed. But a bit of a harsh comment monkey.
@Me_a_monkey: I disagree. Live and let live. Do what you want and don’t be defined simply by the day job. It’s a well written humorous yet serious piece. I enjoyed it. But Special K is not really a healthy food and it’s more about marketing and how people are constantly being manipulated to part them from their hard-earned cash. A complaint to the advertising standards authority might improve things.
@Me_a_monkey: It was just far too long and too loosely written. Needs editing and cutting back.
I think all this Instagranming of ‘body positivity’ and celebrating curves etc is all very well but the reality is you’re looking at Type 2 diabetes and all that goes with it. The Special K ad and the like are nonsense but there’s a danger with embracing our curves too. All the high Street and online plus size trends are a double edged sword. There are serious health reasons that nobody is supposed to be a size 22.
@Sinead Mooney: how dare you fat shame!! FAT SHAMER! Oh wait I shouldn’t use that word. PLUS SIZED SHAMER!
Brands that sell themselves as healthy but which are actually processed junk, should be banned. Eat natural.
@Alan Currie: so that is most brands, especially those that claim low fat.
After all the are low fat, but to stop the product tasting like cardboard they’ve added more sugar…. Which turns to fat in a person’s body due to the large amount as your body trys to store the excess sugar as fat since it can’t process the large amount at once.
@Barry Somers: you’ll find most man made foods that are low sugar are high in fat, and vice versa. There’s also danger of people using fat blocker pills, which also block the good fats from getting absorbed, omega 3 + 6 etc. A lot of people now switching to ketogenic diet.
@Alan Currie: Many natural foods too, to be fair! What nature doesn’t provide are foods high in both sugar and fat.
Lol.
Life is so short. Gonna have me bacon and eggs today. Then chase the dog up a hill.
Never had ‘Special K’ in my whole life of 60ish years. Live. Love. Eat. Move.
Oh and organic oats are all the breakfast cereal you need.
@willow moon: Good for you. But as we live in a world where we have confectionary products pushed on suggestible people from all directions and sugar added to everything (even baked beans), a little pressure to be healthy is probably no harm.
Really do not understand the point of this article. I get it’s poking fun at the underlying theme of the special k marketing. Is this another article on how certain advertising body shames women? This tired notion that it’s everyone else’s job to stop hurting your feelings? I really don’t get the purpose of this article.
@mark d: I would suggest re-reading it, you might get it the second time around
@Vocal Outrage: pleas explain it for me.
@Vocal Outrage: please explain it for me.
I’m sure I’d look great in that swimsuit! Drive the men wild!
I also grew up with the Diet Coke ad. Apparently they wanted to make another ad in that style and it was banned before it was even shot. We are now in the pc world. (There’s another advert). I think if you treat people like adults they act like adults and can make up their own minds about what they want. Maybe that’s why we are all still treated like children.
@Marcia Craine: but you have no problem with those adults being given false and misleading info/data?
How do you expect them to make up their minds if they are being lied to be the food industry?
@Barry Somers: when does it become an individuals responsibility to find and disseminate information for themselves. Also if people believe everything they see in an advert they deserve to be fooled.
This example really enhances her camel toe
What’s wrong with ambition, wanting to look better and feel better. If you want to commit suicide by over eating and indulging in harmful practices, go ahead, I don’t want to be paying for your diabetes medication or gastric bypass surgery. The reality is, being overweight is unhealthy and self limiting.
@Daniel Donovan: oh oh! Snowflakes gonna get you for that comment!
Most upset person here is yourself, so far, Mark. Does that say anything to you?
I can just imagine Waterford Whispers with this one. “Woman believes a full bodied red swimsuit body shames, goes to a beach in Spain and has a meltdown.”
If anything those swimsuits went out of their way to be modest and cover all the… bits. These days you see worse on a sunny July day in Grafton Street, and skimpier swimsuits held together with a bit of string and half a handkerchief on Termonfeckin beach. Personally I never look…
have your say