HOUSTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s public empathy has been shown during his trip to a major disaster area since taking office a little over a month ago. The president and his wife, Jill, are in Texas to investigate the damage caused by the winter weather and encourage people to get their coronavirus shots.
The harsh winter weather across the South over Valentine’s Day weekend plagued several states, with Texas being the heaviest of unpleasant icy conditions causing widespread power outages and frozen pipes that burst and flooded homes. Millions of residents have lost heat and running water.
At least 40 people in Texas have died as a result of the storm and although the weather is normal again, more than 1 million inhabitants are still ordered to boil water before drinking it.
“The President has made it very clear to us that in such crises it is our duty to organize swift and competent federal support for American citizens, and we must ensure that bureaucracy and politics do not stand in the way,” Homeland Security said. . Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, who accompanied Biden to Houston
Biden planned to meet with local leaders about the storm, relief efforts and progress toward recovery, to visit a food bank and meet volunteers. He would be accompanied by the Republican Government of Texas, Greg Abbott.
While in Houston, the Democratic president also planned to visit a mass coronavirus vaccination center at the NRG Stadium run by the federal government. Biden commemorates the 50 millionth vaccination COVID-19 on Thursday since taking office, halfway to his goal of 100 million shots by his 100th day in office. This celebration follows a moment of silence to mark the course of 500,000 American deaths earlier this week the blame on the disease.
The post-storm debate in Texas has focused on the state maintaining its own electrical network and lack of storm preparation, including weathering of major infrastructure. Some government officials originally blamed renewable energy, although Texas is a major user of fossil fuels such as oil and gas.
Sherwood-Randall said it is still going on in Texas to supplement their utilities.
“Fundamentally, the state of Texas has to make the first decision about what kind of energy system it wants to maintain, what kind of energy market it wants to maintain,” she said.
The White House said Biden’s purpose with the visit would be to support, not to scold.
“I expect that what he will do today during this journey, every person will ask what he sees you need, how can I help you more,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. ‘And what more can we get for you from the federal government? And it’s important to him that he does it personally on the ground, he has that direct involvement. ”
Biden declared a major disaster in Texas and asked federal agencies to identify additional resources to aid the recovery. The Federal Emergency Management Agency sent emergency generators, bottled water, ready meals and blankets.
Judge Mark Henry in Galveston said in an interview that he did not know what more the federal government could do to help because the failures were at the state level. But Henry, a Republican who is the highest-ranking official in the Houston suburban county, said that if Biden “thinks it’s important to visit, then come down.”
Biden wanted to undertake the trip last week, but said at the time that he was holding back because he did not want his presence and consequence to slow down the recovery effort.
Biden, whose life is marked by personal tragedy, is known for his ability to empathize with others and their suffering. His first wife and baby daughter died in a car crash in 1972. His son, Beau Biden, died in 2015 at the age of 46 from brain cancer.
Republican Senator John Cornyn, Texas, has planned to join Biden, a spokesman said.
Senator Ted Cruz, an ally of former President Donald Trump and one of a handful of GOP lawmakers who objected to Congress confirming Biden’s victory, was in Florida with the Conservative Conference on Political Action..
Cruz was recently criticized for taking his family to Cancun, Mexico, while millions of Texans shivered in their unheated homes during the disaster. Cruz later said the trip was a mistake. Cruz eased his mistake in the CPAC crowd.
“Orlando is wonderful,” he said laughing. “It’s not as delicious as Cancun. But it’s nice. ‘
Houston was also the destination for Trump’s first presidential visit to a disaster area in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey caused catastrophic floods in August.
Trump, not known for empathy, did not meet storm victims on the visit. He returned four days later and encouraged people who had moved to a shelter to ‘have a good time’.
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Associated Press authors Jill Colvin, Zeke Miller and Aamer Madhani reported.