President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump landed in San Antonio shortly after noon, and then immediately departed to tour the Kerrville flood damage. Also with the president were Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, along with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
After witnessing the destruction near the Guadalupe River, and then visiting Louise Hays Park, President Trump Trump called the flooding "a terrible thing", but did not want to comment today on FEMA.
Trump then took part in a local roundtable in Kerrville, saying that the nation mourns every life that was lost in the floods. "We just give our warmest condolences," Trump told reporters, "but how do you give condolences to someone who lost a vibrant young child who is no longer here?"
Dr. Phil McGraw was also on hand for the roundtable and said, "you never get over it, you get through it", while acknowledging the unity of 'Texas Strong'.
Also on this Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that several additional counties are now eligible for federal disaster aid following catastrophic flooding across Central Texas.
"Most importantly, we have to devise a response that's right for this community" Abbott said, "We're going to work on alerts, we're going to work on every single solution to make sure things like this don't happen again."
The expanded declaration, which was signed by President Donald Trump, enables residents to apply for federal funding to cover housing, repairs, and recovery costs.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick was also on hand and said that hearings in Central Texas will begin in two weeks.
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