Thousands have been displaced from their homes in southeast Texas, with no idea of when they'll be able to return. Rivers are still rising, more communities are being threatened and the rain shows no sign of letting up. Much of Houston and the Gulf Coast region is crippled, with basic services like electricity and water knocked off. The National Weather Service is predicting several more inches of rain today in the Houston-Galveston area, the upper Texas coast and southwest Louisiana. Parts of Houston have already received 30 inches, and could get 50 inches or more before the storm moves on. Which won't be soon as it moved offshore again Monday night, the eye likely gaining strength again in the warm Gulf waters. The Weather Service warns of storm surges as it moves back toward land, and "a possibility of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland."
On top of all of this, they're going to have to deal with Donald Trump, who is visiting the region Tuesday to "show the federal government’s responsiveness to the massive storm."
The president was scheduled to receive briefings on the relief efforts in Corpus Christi, Texas, and later meet with state officials at the emergency operations center in Austin. The president was joined by first lady Melania Trump and other officials.
"Conditions haven't cleared in Houston yet so probably not appropriate for him to go up there, probably not safe for him to go up there," said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas. "But I do think having your own eyes on the devastation that I have seen is important."
Trump has appeared to relish the role of guiding the nation’s response to Harvey, which made landfall along the Gulf Coast on Friday night as a Category 4 storm near Corpus Christi, and moved northeast along the Texas coast over Houston. The storm has dumped more than 30 inches of rain in parts of Texas and authorities have rescued thousands of people left stranded by the storm.
"Recovery will be a long and difficult road and the federal government stands ready, willing and able to support that effort," Trump said during a joint news conference on Monday with the president of Finland.
The nation can only hope that Trump stays on script for this visit, wearing his "president" hat. It's too much to ask that he take a lesson from the visit about the very real and catastrophic results of climate change, but maybe it will be a wake-up call to Trump to the gravity of his position. Maybe. He spent at least part of his morning, before departing for Texas talking back to the TV on Twitter.