The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
– ‘Life and safety’ –
Trump, who spent the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, had said he would visit the Lone Star State as soon as he could “without causing disruption.”
“The focus must be on life and safety,” he said in a series of tweets about the disaster, his first major domestic challenge since taking office in January.
Later, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the visit would take place Tuesday.
At least three deaths have been blamed on Harvey, which has spawned tornadoes and lashed east and central Texas with torrential rains.
In Houston, a woman drowned when she left a car which had stalled in high water, and another man was found dead in a flooded Wal-Mart parking lot in the Galveston area, officials said.
On Saturday local officials said that one person was killed when a house caught fire in the Rockport area, one of the places hardest hit.
“The breadth and intensity of this rainfall are beyond anything experienced before,” the National Weather Service said on Twitter.
Houston opened community centers to shelter people forced out of their homes, but the mayor appealed to residents to stay put and not call the 911 emergency line unless they faced a life-threatening situation.
“Even if there’s a lull today, don’t assume the storm is over,” Turner said.
– ‘I might have left sooner’ –
The National Weather Service said more than two feet (60 centimeters) of rain fell in Houston and nearby Galveston in a 24-hour period. Another 20 inches were expected.
Flooding was expected to worsen as Harvey, the most powerful storm to hit the United States mainland since 2005, lingers over the area.
Harvey ripped off roofs, flipped mobile homes and left hundreds of thousands of people in the dark on the Gulf Coast, home to some of the country’s most important oil refineries.
Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby International, the city’s two airports, also stopped all commercial flights.
Thousands of National Guard troops joined local police and emergency workers to help with rescues in inundated areas of the city.
Boats also were being deployed, but more were needed — Harris County Judge Ed Emmett appealed to residents to use their own vessels.
One volunteer rescuer told KTRK TV: “Basically, there were a lot of people out here and not enough boats.”
– ‘Landmark’ disaster –
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said there should be no illusions about the long-term impact.
“This disaster will be a landmark event,” FEMA director Brock Long told CNN, adding it would take “years” to recover.
Coastal Texas is home to a large number of oil refineries and a number of major ports.
ExxonMobil said Sunday it had closed its massive Baytown refining complex — the second-largest in the country.
US authorities said about 22 percent of crude production in the Gulf of Mexico, accounting for more than 375,000 barrels a day, was shut down.
But Abbott said the oil industry was well prepared.
“They have the ability to ratchet up back up there quickly,” he said on Fox News Sunday, predicting a “one- or two-week downturn.”
