President Biden praised relief workers for doing “the work of God” while visiting Houston on Friday in the wake of the deadly winter storm over Valentine’s Day weekend, which still has thousands of locals without safe water.
Biden’s visit to Texas marked the first time for a major disaster area since he took office last month.
At the Harris County Emergency Operations Center, the president was acted by FEMA Administrator Bob Fenton and state and local emergency management officials.
“Hell of an operation here. It’s probably the best in the country,” Biden told staff.
“You are saving people’s lives.” As my mother says, you are doing God’s work. “
Biden joined the government’s operations center. Greg Abbott and Sen. John Cornyn, both Republicans, four Democratic Houston-area members of Congress and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.
Another senator from the Lone Star State – Republican Ted Cruz, who resented the jetting to Cancun, Mexico during the storm, left the program to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida.
Biden also visited the huge Houston Food Bank, where First Lady Jill Biden helped box with instant oats and canned peaches.
“We’re here to help, so ask us to work!” He said after coming.
Texas is solidly Republican, and a man holding Trump’s flag was among the spectators near Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base when Biddens landed from Airforce One at 12:20 pm local time.
At the peak of the storm – which killed at least 40 people – more than 1.4 million residents were without electricity and 3.5 million were under boil-water notice in Harris County, the third-largest in the country.
The county’s emergency management coordinator Mark Sloan said that “57,000 residents still have to boil their water” for safety.
With post wires
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