HOUSTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s public empathy is shown on his trip to a major disaster site since he took office just over a month ago. The president and his wife, Jill, are in Texas to study the damage caused by the severe winter weather and to encourage people to receive their coronavirus shots.
The brutal winter weather in the south over Valentine’s Weekend suffered several states, with Texas bearing the brunt of the unstable refrigeration conditions that caused widespread power outages and frozen pipes that exploded and flooded homes. Millions of residents lost heat and running water.
At least 40 people in Texas died as a result of the storm and although the weather has returned to more normal temperatures, more than a million residents are still under orders to boil water before drinking it..
“The president has made it very clear to us that in a crisis like this, it is our duty to organize quick and competent federal support for American citizens and we must ensure that bureaucracy and politics do not interfere,” Homeland Security said. . Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall, who accompanied Biden to Houston
Biden planned to meet with local leaders to discuss the storm, relief efforts and progress toward recovery, and visit a food bank and meet volunteers. He was to be accompanied by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
While in Houston, the Democratic president also planned to visit a massive coronavirus vaccination center at the NRG stadium run by the federal government. Biden commemorated the 50 millionth vaccine against COVID-19 on Thursday since he took office, halfway to his goal of 100 million shots for his centenary day in office. This celebration was a moment of silence to mark the passage earlier this week of 500,000 deaths in the US guilty of the disease.
The post-storm debate in Texas has focused on the fact that the state maintains its own power grid and the lack of storm preparedness, including air conditioning of key infrastructure. Some state officials initially blamed the shutdowns on renewable energy even though Texas is a major user of fossil fuels such as oil and gas.
Sherwood-Randall said it depends on Texas on how to strengthen its utilities.
“Basically, 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,” he said.
The White House said Biden’s purpose in visiting would be to support, not scold.
“I hope what you will do during this trip today is ask each person who sees what they need, how I can help you more,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “And what more can we get from the federal government. And for him it’s important that he does it in person, that he has that direct commitment.”
Biden has declared a major disaster in Texas and called on federal agencies to identify additional resources to help with the recovery. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent emergency generators, bottled water, prepared meals and blankets.
Galveston County Judge Mark Henry said in an interview that he did not know what more the federal government could do to help because the failures were statewide. But Henry, a Republican who is the top official in suburban Houston County, said that if Biden “thinks it’s important to visit him, come down.”
Biden wanted to make the trip last week, but at the time said he slowed down because he didn’t want his presence and entourage to detract from recovery effort.
Biden, whose life has been marked by personal tragedy, is known for his ability to empathize with others and for his suffering. His first wife and daughter died in a car collision in 1972. His son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn planned to join Biden, a spokesman said.
Senator Ted Cruz, an ally of former President Donald Trump and one of the few Republican lawmakers who had opposed Congress certifying Biden’s victory, was in Florida addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Cruz was recently criticized for taking his family to Cancun, Mexico, while millions of jeans trembled in their unheated homes during the disaster. Cruz later said the trip was a mistake. Cruz made clear his wrong step toward the CPAC crowd.
“Orlando is amazing,” he said between laughter and screams. “It’s not as nice as Cancun. But it’s okay. “
Houston was also the destination of Trump’s first presidential visit to a disaster area in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey caused catastrophic flooding that August.
Trump, who is not known for his displays of empathy, did not meet with the victims of the storm on the visit. He returned four days later and urged people who had moved to a shelter to “have a good time.”
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Jill Colvin, Zeke Miller and Aamer Madhani wrote in the Associated Press.