Trump in Texas says devastation from floods is 'hard to believe'

Kate Sullivan, Bloomberg News on Jul 11, 2025

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President Donald Trump said it was “hard to believe the devastation” as he visited Texas to see firsthand the damage from extreme floods that killed at least 120 people and left scores still missing in the state’s Hill Country region.

Trump’s visit was aimed at reassuring residents that the federal government was committing the resources needed for search-and-recovery operations and to help rebuild communities ravaged by the floods.

“My administration is doing everything in its power to help Texas,” Trump said Friday at a roundtable with first responders and local officials in Kerrville, Texas, and expressed astonishment at the scope of the disaster.

“The first lady and I are here in Texas to express the love and support and the anguish of our entire nation in the aftermath of this really horrific and deadly flood,” the president said. “Nobody has any idea how and why a thing like this could happen.”

The deaths from the disaster include children who had been attending a girls’ summer camp located near the Guadalupe River, where high waters swept away cabins, bridges and roads. Camp Mystic said it had lost 27 campers and counselors in the deluge.

Officials in hard-hit Kerr County, where the bulk of the damage occurred, say the dead included 36 children and 60 adults. Around 160 people remain missing. The statewide death toll is expected to mount as rescuers continue to search through debris.

During his visit, Trump met with emergency workers in Kerr County and received a briefing, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Trump surveyed the damage in a helicopter flight and then was shown what appeared to be a map of the flood-damaged area. The scale of the destruction was evident — with Trump and the first lady standing in front of an overturned tractor trailer and amid downed trees, a testament to the force of the deadly, swift-moving floodwaters which tore through the community.

Local, state and federal officials have been under intense scrutiny in the days following the flash flood over their initial response, particularly over how a county prone to floods lacked warning sirens and whether forecasts were accurately conveyed to local residents in a timely manner.

Some Democrats have also raised questions about what impact the Trump administration’s federal staffing cuts, including to the National Weather Service, may have had in the disaster.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier this week denounced the criticism as “depraved and despicable,” and said the National Weather Service “provided early and consistent warnings.” The White House has maintained the cuts to the workforce did not affect the response to the flash flood.

Trump bristled at a question during the roundtable about whether alerts had gone out in time, saying he believed that “everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances.”

“I don’t know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that,” Trump said. “This has been heroism. This has been incredible. Really, the job you’ve all done.”

The disaster has also put a spotlight on Trump’s calls to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency and hand over its functions to states. Trump has assailed the agency for its work helping residents of North Carolina after a deadly hurricane, but hailed its response to the Texas floods on Friday, citing his administration’s personnel.

“We have some good people running FEMA. It’s about time, right? We got some good ones. They failed us in North Carolina, but when we got in on January 20, they fixed it up in time,” Trump said.

Trump signed a disaster declaration on Sunday for Kerr County. The U.S. Coast Guard had been deployed to assist in search and rescue efforts and FEMA has sent resources to assist first responders in the state.

Abbott has called a special legislative session and several agenda items are related to the floods, including flood warning systems and natural disaster preparedness. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the state would pay for warning sirens in rural districts that can’t afford them.

In an telephone interview with NBC News released on Thursday night, Trump said “after seeing this horrible event, I would imagine you’d put alarms up in some form.”

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—With assistance from Joe Lovinger, John Harney, Derek Wallbank and Hadriana Lowenkron.

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