Trump coming to Houston today to tour Harvey aftermath

“We know that some are distressed, some are displaced”. Others said they have gone a week without clean clothes, showers or cooked meals.

More than 1,000 worshippers packed the historically black church’s sanctuary for a service that repeatedly addressed the tragedy that hit many Texas and Louisiana communities.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Sunday the city was making progress on several fronts, expecting most public services and businesses to be restored by Tuesday, the first business day after Monday’s Labor Day holiday.

One week after Harvey blasted into southeast Texas as a Category Four hurricane, rescuers were still searching by air and by boat for people trapped in flooded homes.

“We’re here to hang out with the kids, to cheer people up”, said one of the students in the group, as evacuees waiting in line for federal aid vouchers waved and took photos.

On Saturday, hours after the AP published its first report, the EPA said it had reviewed aerial imagery confirming that 13 of the 41 Superfund sites in Texas were flooded by Harvey and were “experiencing possible damage” due to the storm.

“When one part of America hurts, we all hurt”.

As officials were only beginning to assess the widespread damage across the region and as rescue flights and boat missions continued through parts of the state, President Trump was expected to ask Congress to approve $7.8 billion for disaster relief in the coming days, and $6.7 billion more by the end of the month, White House officials said.

Abbott said it was his understanding that, “in the overall equation”, Hurricane Katrina cost over $120 billion.

The administration is now hoping for an initial $7.9 billion in disaster relief funds.

Congress returns to Washington Tuesday after a summer recess.

According to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, President Trump wasn’t able to meet the victims and to go deeply into Houston.

Adrian Rodriguez returned on Saturday to his flood-hit home there where he lives with his wife and three young boys. He said Harvey could ultimately cost more, considering the greater magnitude of Harvey compared to Katrina.

But even as thousands of Houstonians worked to help their friends and fellow residents clean up and begin the long process of moving forward and recovering, tens of thousands remained stuck across the region, looking for a place to stay or waiting to rebuild. “Yes, it was a very serious storm, historic, unprecedented, but the city of Houston is open for business”.

However, the full impact on surrounding areas was not immediately clear, the US Environmental Protection Agency said on Saturday.

“We want to do it better than ever before”, he said. He appeared Sunday on both CBS and NBC. Some commentators criticized the choice as off-key for a trip created to show support for people who’ve lost everything in the devastating storm.

Trump, who has declared Sunday to be a “National Day of Prayer” for victims of Hurricane Harvey, put an upbeat gloss on the situation.

Saturday’s stops offer Trump another opportunity to serve as the nation’s “comforter in chief” following the tragedy, his first major crisis while in office.

He said the house had at least two feet of water in it.

As he spoke, people like Luella Rivera picked out supplies in the church’s gymnasium, where a relief station was stocked with donations.

She filed her FEMA application as soon as her family arrived at the shelter last week, but no vouchers or even a denial of assistance had come.

There are 4,700 dwellings in the flooded area, including houses and apartments.

“We’re one American family brought together in times of tragedy by the unbreakable bonds of love and loyalty that we have for one another”, Trump said.