Trump to visit Texas; White House says FEMA has funds for flood victims: Live updates

 President Donald Trump on Friday departed for Texas, where he will survey the damage of catastrophic flooding that tore across the Texas Hill Country a week ago, as authorities and volunteers searched for the missing and local residents mourned the dead.

At least 120 people have been recovered since heavy rainfall overwhelmed the Guadalupe River and flowed through homes and summer camps in the early morning hours of July 4. Ninety-six of those killed were in the hardest-hit county in central Texas, Kerr County, where the toll includes at least 36 children.

State officials vowed to continue searching for over 160 people many still missing but have acknowledged the dwindling chances of finding survivors alive a week after the disaster. The last time rescue teams made a "live rescue" was on the day the flood broke out.

The president and first lady Melania Trump are set to arrive in Kerr County around noon before meeting with families of the victims and local officials, as questions linger over what more could have been done to save lives from one of the deadliest floods of the last 25 years.

“It’s a horrible thing,” Trump told reporters before Air Force One lifted off around 10:20 a.m. ET. “Nobody can even believe it, such a thing. "

Over $30 million in donations received by Kerr County flood relief fund

The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has received more than $30 million in donations through the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, organizers announced Friday.

Texas Rep. Chip Roy thanked those who've donated to the fund and said he expects the donation totals to grow in the coming days as recovery operations continue across the region. He urged more people to donate to the relief fund, citing a challenging road to recovery.

White House says FEMA has enough money for Texas flood relief

Ahead of Trump’s Friday visit to Texas, the White House’s budget chief told reporters the Federal Emergency Management Agency has the funding to assist in flood recovery efforts even as the Trump administration has talked about eliminating FEMA.

Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said FEMA has about $13 billion in its reserves to pay for necessary expenses in Texas.

“The president has said to Texas, anything it needs it will get,” Vought said, adding that, “We also want FEMA to be reformed. We want FEMA to work well … The president is going to continue to be asking tough questions of all of his agencies."

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday continued her call for FEMA to be eliminated in its current form. Her push comes as FEMA has deployed specialists and distributed supplies to the flooded areas in Texas.

"Federal emergency management should be state and locally led, rather than how it has operated for decades," Noem said.

"It has been slow to respond at the federal level. It's even been slower to get the resources to Americans in crisis, and that is why this entire agency needs to be eliminated as it exists today, and remade into a responsive agency."

Kerr County was denied money to upgrade flood warning system

Nearly a decade before disastrous floods ravaged the Texas Hill Country, the state’s Division of Emergency Management denied requests from Kerr County for a $1 million grant to improve its flood warning system, records show.

The Texas Division of Emergency Management denied Kerr County’s initial application, meeting minutes show. Kerr County applied again the following year, in 2018, when more federal funding became available after Hurricane Harvey. But meeting minutes indicate that Texas’ emergency authority again did not approve it.

The Division of Emergency Management did not answer USA TODAY's specific questions about why the county's applications were rejected.

In 2017, Kerr County requested the funds to build a flood warning system that would have upgraded 20 water gauge systems, added new water level sensors and posts, and created software and a website to distribute the information to the public in real-time.

Kerr County was denied money to upgrade flood warning system

Nearly a decade before disastrous floods ravaged the Texas Hill Country, the state’s Division of Emergency Management denied requests from Kerr County for a $1 million grant to improve its flood warning system, records show.

In 2017, Kerr County requested the funds to build a flood warning system that would have upgraded 20 water gauge systems, added new water level sensors and posts, and created software and a website to distribute the information to the public in real-time.