“I came down here because I heard of the crisis. It’s more than a crisis, this is a human heartbreak,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said during a press conference after touring the El Paso Central Processing Center in El Paso, Texas. “The sad part about all this, didn’t have to happen. This crisis is created by the presidential policies of this new administration. There’s no other way to claim it than a Biden border crisis.”

The trip comes as the Biden administration is facing an influx of migrant children coming to the border as there is limited facilities to hold them. In addition, the trip comes as the House is about to take up two immigration bills that would create a pathway to citizenship for “Dreamers,” undocumented individuals who were brought to the U.S. as children, and farm workers.

McCarthy, along with the 12 other Republican members of the House, said Biden was to blame for the surge after he reversed several of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

“The cartels know when to exploit this southern border, and they’re doing it now masterfully,” said Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., and ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. “They’re doing it because President Biden rolled back a lot of the orders of the previous administration that were working.”

Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, pushed back against her Republican colleagues, who blamed the president.

“We first started seeing pretty significant numbers of families arriving at our front door under the Trump administration,” Escobar said during a virtual press conference Monday afternoon. “The flow has never stopped. The journey that these families have been making, it’s never stopped. What the Trump administration did in the last year during COVID, and through MPP and through other really awful and horrific policies, was not stop immigration.

What he did was create some pretty dangerous conditions right outside our front door,” Escobar said.

More: The House is taking up immigration changes this week. Democrats are cautiously optimistic about Senate support

In his first weeks in office, Biden stopped construction on the border wall and began unwinding several of Trump’s hardline immigration policies. However, the Biden administration has kept one key policy in place from the Trump administration, Title 42, which allows the government to expel undocumented migrants coming to the U.S. seeking asylum.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy addresses th press during the congressional border delegation visit to El Paso, Texas on March 15. Justin Hamel/AFP via Getty Images

Over the past several months, the Biden administration has seen a surge of unaccompanied migrant children to the border, and has struggled to quickly move the children from short-term holding facilities to temporary influx facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services.

As of Sunday morning, more than 4,200 unaccompanied migrant children were being held in short-term holding facilities, according to CBS News. Migrant children are supposed to be moved from the short-term facilities within 72 hours. Those facilities are jail-like and are not suited for long-term containment.

In an attempt to help combat the surge, the administration is deploying officials from Health and Human Services and the Office of Refugee Resettlement to help begin the vetting process for sponsors for these children more quickly. In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been deployed for the next three months to help receive, shelter and transfer unaccompanied migrant children, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Saturday.

More: Gov. Greg Abbott in South Texas says Biden administration ‘invites illegal immigration’

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday the administration is facing “a big challenge” at the border and using “every level of the federal government to help address that.” However, she has not called the surge a “crisis” or a humanitarian disaster.

“They’re playing a number of roles there to address what we feel is a significant problem and a significant challenge, and I think we haven’t … been hiding about that,” Psaki said of FEMA aiding at the border.

Although the White House has yet to label the surge of undocumented children at the border a “crisis,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Sunday that there is a “humanitarian crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The Biden administration is trying to fix the broken system that was left to them by the Trump administration,” Pelosi said. “The Biden administration will have a system, based on doing the best possible job, understanding this is a humanitarian crisis.”

For the trip to the border, McCarthy was accompanied by:

• Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y.
• Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn.
• Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La.
• Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas
• Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas
• Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla.
• Rep. Yvette Herrell, R-N.M.
• Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio
• Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa
• Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas
• Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn.
• Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla.
   

Salazar, who represents parts of Miami, raised concerns that children coming to the border could become victim to human trafficking. Salazar, who is of Cuban descent, said Latinos from Central America are the ones who are at high risk of being trafficked.

“We need to join forces and send a message that we cannot allow what’s happening on the border, because it’s our girls, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the ones who are being raped. It’s our girls, the ones, the children who are being trafficked,” Salazar said.

The Biden administration has also raised concerns about human trafficking. Psaki has previously said that the vetting process for a sponsor for an unaccompanied migrant child is taking longer because they want to make sure the child isn’t falling into a human trafficking situation.

‘Unacceptable’:Border Patrol holding hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children in El Paso

The Biden administration has repeatedly said that the border is currently closed and has called on migrants to stop trying to make the dangerous journey to the United States’ southern border.

Although the Republican lawmakers criticized Biden’s handling of the surge of undocumented migrants, some noted they are open to altering some legal paths to immigration. For example, McCarthy noted those seeking an education in the United States who are from another country should have a system in place to stay and work in the U.S. after they graduate.

“Let’s make a system that actually works, put it on merit, have the ability to come,” McCarthy said.

Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/15/kevin-mccarthy-republicans-slam-biden-migrants-us-mexico-border/4701550001/

The post As Biden faces ongoing surge of migrant children, Republicans criticize White House for border crisis first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

It’s not just the landscape getting scorched from record wildfires raging along the West Coast and elsewhere. The fires are having a massive economic impact as well.

Researchers project economic losses as high as $150 billion. The fires already have displaced thousands of people and destroyed millions of acres of land.

Using wildfire data and artificial intelligence resources, Zesty.ai researchers estimate that $5.9 billion to $9.8 billion has been lost as of Sept. 18.

Other data suggests this year’s wildfire season is on track to cause about $25 billion in damage. That estimate is similar to the damage two years ago when wildfires burned about 8.7 million acres nationwide, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Some private reports suggest a much higher number. AccuWeather estimates that the total economic loss from wildfires now ranges from $130 billion to $150 billion.

“It’s higher than other estimates because most of those are for insured losses only,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Dave Samuel. “We take into account things like long-term business and health for people, the long-term damage the fires can cause and other things like important papers, memorabilia, photos, antiques and other priceless items that someone could lose who is not insured. So that’s basically the main difference.”

As of Monday, 49,149 fires have burned more than 8.7 million acres across the U.S. this year, the National Interagency Fire Center reported. Even with the summer heat subsiding, firefighters were battling 34 active wildfires in 11 states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. With 13 active wildfires, California has the most. Colorado follows with six.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat touring devastation late last month, noted that the state’s 20 largest recorded wildfires have occurred since the turn of the century and its three largest — Cameron Peak, East Troublesome, and Pine Gulch — were this year.

“My heart goes out to all Coloradans who have had to flee their home or leave their community behind due to these fires,” Mr. Polis said during a visit to Boulder County. He said the fires have erupted in a year of “unprecedented challenges,” including the COVID-19 pandemic and an economic collapse.

Although this season has had fewer wildfires on average during a 10-year period, 2 million more acres have burned. From 2010 to 2019, the average was 51,779 wildfires and 6.7 million acres burned.

As of Oct. 7, the U.S. this year had 16 “weather disaster events,” including one wildfire, with losses surpassing $1 billion each, NOAA reported. A wildfire is generally the third most costly event, averaging about $5 billion in damage per incident, behind tropical cyclones and droughts.

When tacking on Hurricanes Isaias, Laura, and Sally, 48 tropical cyclones have caused a combined $974.9 billion in total damage, averaging $20.7 billion per event, NOAA officials said. The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017 top out as the costliest tropical cyclones. Each caused $125 billion in damage.

In November 2018, the Camp Fire that broke out in Butte County, California, and destroyed the town of Paradise made U.S. history as the most destructive wildfire, costing $8.5 billion to $10.5 billion in insured losses alone.

Big losses

Last year, NOAA recorded $4.5 billion in damage when wildfires burned about 4.6 million acres. In 2017, wildfires caused about $19 billion in damage and burned more than 10 million acres, the second-highest number since 1983, when the National Interagency Fire Center began recording more accurate data.

Accuweather estimated that wildfires caused about $80 billion in total damage last year, $400 billion in 2018, and $85 billion in 2017.

Wildfires destroy more than 2,500 homes in the U.S. on average each year, said Forbes, citing the National Interagency Coordination Center’s 2019 yearly report. About 85% of wildfires in the U.S. from 2000 to 2017 were caused by human carelessness such as leaving campfires unattended and burning debris. Lightning is another leading cause of wildfires.

The wildfire season started early this year. An August lightning storm ignited many wildfires in California, which Mr. Samuel described as “ground zero” for additional wildfires. He said he expects another half-million acres to burn, adding to the 4.1 million acres in California. The forecast calls for no widespread rain in the state through November, and strong winds could make it an “ugly month” for the wildfire season, Mr. Samuel said.

He said wildfire seasons should have ended in many Western states, although the recent fire activity in Colorado was a surprise to him. The state had a widespread snowstorm in early September, but the landscape dried out and high winds triggered the rapid spread of the East Troublesome fire last month.

The state insurance departments in California and Colorado said they do not yet have estimates on insured losses from wildfires this year.

Destruction from fire, smoke, and water used to extinguish flames is covered under standard homeowners’, renters’ and business owners’ insurance policies, and under the optional comprehensive portion of a car insurance policy, the Insurance Information Institute said. Insurance policies also could also cover damage to a detached garage or shed, trees, lawns, and personal belongings, as well as additional living expenses such as hotel stays and laundry services.

Those who suffered personal or business losses from the devastating fires in August and are waiting for insurance settlements can register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Disaster assistance could cover uninsured losses or provide help to people who have waited more than 30 days on a homeowner’s claim. The deadline to register with FEMA is Nov. 23.

FEMA assistance could also could be used for disaster-related temporary housing and needs such as funeral costs and emergency home repairs not covered by insurance settlements. FEMA registration is available by visiting DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800\621-3362.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, operating through a network of state and county agencies, has disaster assistance programs for farmers and ranchers affected by wildfires.

California has community development block grants for disaster recovery assistance. Congress may redirect funding to states to help areas rebuild.

Federal aid to California became a political football last month when the Trump administration denied a request by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, to officially declare a major disaster in the state, freeing up money and logistical aid.

President Trump, after hearing from prominent California Republicans in Congress, reversed the decision and issued a formal disaster declaration.

If the president declares a disaster, people who lose their jobs as a result of the incident could apply for unemployment payments if they do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits.

States, local governments, American Indian tribes, and certain nonprofit organizations can apply for hazard mitigation grants from FEMA. Although individual homeowners and businesses cannot apply for these grants directly, communities can apply on their behalf.

Source: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/nov/9/wildfires-damages-high-record-setting-150-billion/

The post Up in smoke: Wildfires burn a hole in the economic pocketbook first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The administration has used deft improvisation to secure huge supplies of PPE.

There is a new cardinal rule in journalism — never write anything favorable about the Trump administration’s coronavirus response, even about its successes.

It’s why the story of how the administration handled the potential ventilator crisis has gone almost entirely untold, and why its effort to secure supplies of personal protective equipment, or PPE, has been gotten largely skeptical or hostile coverage.

Any government response to a once-in-a-generation crisis is going to be subject to legitimate criticism, and there’s no question that almost every major government in the Western world, including ours, should have acted sooner. But to read the press, there is basically nothing good that the Trump administration has done over the last three months.

This is manifestly false. In a briefing for reporters last week on FEMA’s work securing PPE, FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor laid out the raw numbers: FEMA, HHS, and the private sector have shipped or are currently shipping 92.7 million N95 respirators, 133 million surgical masks, 10.5 million face shields, 42.4 million surgical gowns, and 989 million gloves.

According to Admiral John Polowczyk, head of the supply-chain task force at FEMA, we manufactured roughly 30 million N95 respirators domestically a month before the COVID-19 crisis. He says we are on a path now to ramp up to 180 million N95 respirators a month.

None of this happened by accident. At a time of unprecedented stress on the supply chain and a yawning gap between supply and demand in the market, it required considerable clever improvisation and determined hustle. This was not your average bureaucratic response. It was a partnership between the public and private sector to get supplies to the United States on an urgent basis and ship them to the places that needed them most, and then begin to ramp up manufacturing here at home.

The post The Massive Trump Coronavirus Supply Effort that the Media Loves to Hate first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Heavy rain may complicate search for victims in Northern California’s Camp Fire first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Northern California could see heavy rain over the next few days, which could help crews battling the devastating Camp Fire. However, it could also bring mudslides and complicate recovery efforts. At a press conference Wednesday night, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office said two more people died in the fire, bringing the total to 83.

Officials also said the amount of missing people on their list has decreased to more than 560. Officials need to make direct contact with a missing person before they can be removed from the list.

The Camp Fire decimated the town of Paradise, population 27,000, and surrounding communities. Officials expected people to be in shelters through the Christmas holiday, CBS News correspondent Meg Oliver reports.

The wildfire has destroyed more than 14,000 homes. “This is certainly one of the worst fires in California history, and it’s the most destruction I’ve ever seen in my career,” Cal Fire Operations Chief Josh Bischoff said.

The Woolsey Fire in Los Angeles County has been 100 percent contained Wednesday night, according to Cal Fire

Follow California wildfire updates below:

• California wildfires fast facts

  These are the current numbers as of Wednesday morning from Cal Fire and the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

  Camp Fire

  • Location: Butte County
  • 153,336 acres burned
  • 85 percent contained
  • 83 fatalities confirmed
  • 560 unaccounted for
  • 18,886 structures destroyed (14,243 residences, 514 commercial and 4,129 other buildings)

  Woolsey Fire

  • Location: Los Angeles County, Ventura County
  • 96,949 acres burned
  • 100 percent contained
  • 3 fatalities confirmed
  • 1,643 structures destroyed, 364 damaged

Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers donating $1M wildfire victims

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers announced Wednesday he’s donating $1 million to California wildfire victims. Wearing a “Butte Strong” sweatshirt to support Butte County, where the Camp Fire destroyed more than 15,000 structures, Rodgers appeared in a Twitter video. He explained the wildfires hit close to home.

The post Northern California’s Camp Fire death toll hits 83 as area prepares for heavy rain, possible mudslides first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Despite the grim update, cooler weather has helped fire crews gain ground Thursday against the nation’s deadliest wildfire in a century as the search went on for more bodies.

Suzanne Kaksonen, who fled the flames with her two birds, said she’s been told she may have to wait six months before she can go back to Paradise, which was all but destroyed a week ago. “I don’t even care if there’s no home,” she said at a shelter set up next to a Walmart parking lot in Chico. “I just want to go back to my dirt, you know, and put a trailer up and clean it up and get going.”

At the other end of the state, crews made progress against the Woolsey Fire that destroyed over 500 structures in Malibu and other communities. At least three deaths were reported in Southern California.

• California wildfires fast facts

  Firefighters are battling two major wildfires in California. Here’s a breakdown by the numbers as of Thursday evening, according to Cal Fire and local officials.

  Camp Fire

  • Location: Butte County
  • 141,000 acres burned
  • 40 percent contained
  • 63 fatalities confirmed
  • 11,862 structures destroyed (including homes)

  Woolsey Fire

  • Location: Los Angeles County, Ventura County
  • 98,362 acres burned
  • 62 percent contained
  • 3 fatalities confirmed
  • 435 structures destroyed, 57,000 in danger

• California wildfire map
  

  • The “Camp Fire” in Northern California is raging north of the state capital of Sacramento, and the “Woolsey Fire” is burning outside Los Angeles.

  • Camp Fire now blamed for 63 deaths in Northern California

    9:05 p.m.: Officials held a press conference Thursday night with the latest details about the Camp Fire in Northern California. The Butte County sheriff said seven additional human remains were found earlier, bringing the total dead from the Camp Fire to 63 (statewide 66).

  

  CBS News@CBSNews

  “We have located seven additional human remains,” bringing the death toll of the CA Camp Fire to 63, says official

  They said a total of 11,862 structures have been destroyed by the Camp Fire, including homes.

  A FEMA official said anyone affected by the Camp Fire needs to register so they can receive assistant.

  An official with the California Highway Patrol said looters will be prosecuted.

  The CHP said road/highway conditions can be found online at the Butte County website. They said some 165 cars have been cleared from roadways.

  The Butte County sheriff’s office announced a total of 631 have been listed as “unaccounted” — a jump in the past 24 hours. The list can be found here.

  

  CBS News@CBSNews

  Official says there are now 631 people unaccounted for in the area affected by the CA Camp Fire, an increase of 501 people from last night.

  • Peter Martinez contributed to this report.
    

    ---

    Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/fires-in-california-camp-woolsey-paradise-wildfire-evacuations-death-toll-map-2018-11-15-latest/

    [Disclaimer]

   

The post Death toll reaches 63 in California’s Camp Fire, while 631 unaccounted for — live updates first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

John Avlon is a CNN senior political analyst and anchor. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

The post The high-risk politics of hurricanes first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Dr Marc Siegel talks Hurricane Florence medical risks first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Volunteers have been preparing and transporting supplies for those affected by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. (Carlos Giusti/AP)

The post Puerto Rico Continues to Struggle After Hurricane Maria first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Residents staying in the area frantically stocked up on food, water and gas, while others heading out of the storm’s path boarded up windows and doors of their homes and businesses.

Airlines canceled flights, schools were shuttered while concerts and other planned events in Houston and coastal cities were postponed.

Even after the hurricane hits the coast, its effects will linger for days, with heavy rainfall through next week estimated to be as high as 40 inches in some areas.

“This is going to be a storm we talk about, unfortunately, for at least the next seven days,” ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee said Friday on “GMA.”

Here’s what we know about the storm so far.

What’s ahead
As of 6 p.m. local time Friday, the hurricane was 45 miles away from the coastal city of Corpus Christi, Texas, with sustained winds of about 130 mph and stronger gusts.

The National Weather Service warned Harvey could bring a potentially devastating storm surge, heavy rainfall and wind hazards to the Lone Star State’s coast. A tornado watch is in effect for areas of southeastern Texas and southwest Louisiana.

Life-threatening storm surge waters could reach 6 to 12 feet above ground level. Catastrophic flooding is expected across parts of the area. And rainfall will be heavy, with an estimated 15 to 25 inches of rain falling in many areas and as high as 40 inches in some from today through Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

Here’s a projected timeline for Hurricane Harvey thus far, according to forecasts from the National Weather Service:

Friday through Saturday: Harvey is expected to roar ashore the Texas coast late Friday evening. After that, the storm’s path remains uncertain but it is forecast to meander near or just inland of the middle of the Texas coast through the weekend.

Sunday through Monday: Some forecast models show Harvey expanding across the Gulf Coast as it makes its way over southern Texas.

Tuesday through Wednesday: The hurricane could, according to some models, move northeast and then re-emerge briefly over the Gulf of Mexico before making a second landfall in northeastern Texas or western Louisiana.

Preparation and evacuations
Storm preparation began in earnest on Wednesday and intensified on Thursday. Shoppers lined up to fill their carts with food and water, while lines for gas stretched out of many stations. Some people also got to work boarding up their homes and businesses to protect against the expected 100-plus mile per hour winds. Even the Texas Department of Transportation in Victoria boarded up its windows on Thursday.

As of Friday, governors had declared states of emergencies for 30 counties in Texas and statewide for Louisiana.

Corpus Christi resident Alex Garcia bought bottled water, bread and other basic grocery items in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land because they were likely more available there than back home, where stores were “crazy,” he told The Associated Press.

Corpus Christi International Airport remains open but airlines have canceled all scheduled flights — incoming and outgoing — for Friday have been canceled, according to FlightAware. Major airlines are waiving cancellation fees.

Meanwhile, Houston airports plan to remain open but are encouraging travelers to change their plans.

British band Coldplay waited until Friday afternoon to cancel their concert scheduled that night in Houston.

“We really wanted to play tonight, but sitting here all together watching the news about the storm we feel that we can’t ask anyone to put their safety at risk. So, sadly, we will have to postpone,” Coldplay said in a statement.

And as Houston resident Bill Pennington prepared his one-story home for another deluge in the flood-prone city, the father told The Associated Press he comforted his nervous 9-year-old son by saying, “We know how to handle it. We’ll handle it again.”

The Coast Guard said Thursday it is sending shallow-depth vessels to Texas and Louisiana that are capable of responding in flooded urban areas. And with gale force winds predicted to arrive within 24 hours, the Coast Guard on Thursday also ordered a nearly total closure of ports in Houston, Texas City, Galveston, Freeport and Corpus Christi.

By Friday afternoon, the Coast Guard had already completed its first search-and-rescue mission, rescuing 12 people from a 160-foot vessel near Port Mansfield, Texas.

Texas officials announced mandatory evacuations for all seven counties on the coast: Calhoun County, San Patricio County, Refugio County, Brazoria County, Jackson County, Victoria County and Matagorda County. In four of those countries, officials ordered their entire county to evacuate and warned those who chose to stay behind that their rescue could not be guaranteed. Voluntary evacuations have been urged for residents in other areas.

Mandatory evacuations have been issued for Rockport, Texas, where Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Rios told reporters Friday, “We’re suggesting if people are going to stay here, mark there arm with a sharpie pen with their name and social security number.”

“It’s not something we like to do but it’s the reality; people don’t listen,” Rios added.

While a mandatory evacuation order is not in place for Corpus Christi, Mayor Joe McComb did advise residents to voluntarily evacuate.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long urged people in the path of the storm to heed warnings and to take evacuation orders seriously.

“This may be the first major landfall hurricane we’ve had since 2005,” Long said in an interview on “Good Morning America” Friday. “So there’s going to be damage.”

As of Friday morning, FEMA had amassed more than 96,000 liters of water, 306,000 meals and 4,500 tarps at incident support bases in Seguin and Fort Worth, Texas, as well as in Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, should the states need them.

Storm preparations have extended to New Orleans, where FEMA said it’s working to make sure the Louisiana city’s pumps are functioning in anticipation of the seven to 10 inches of rainfall expected there. The National Guard is also readying 500,000 sandbags, FEMA said.

Texas power companies reported that more than 31,000 people have lost power as a result of Hurricane Harvey. AEP confirmed the outages mostly hit downtown and south Corpus Christi and Aransas Pass. Restoration efforts won’t begin to happen until the hurricane passes, the company stated.

How officials are responding

Politicians and officials have taken a proactive approach to the storm.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday night that he had discussed storm preparation with President Donald Trump, as well as with the heads of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. On Friday, Abbott sent a letter to Trump requesting a presidential disaster declaration in anticipation of Hurricane Harvey.

“Granting this request will provide Texans the additional resources needed to protect themselves, their property and rebuild their lives if necessary after Hurricane Harvey,” Abbott said in a statement.

However, White House Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert told reporters at a press briefing Friday afternoon that it’s unlikely the president will make that declaration prior to the storm making landfall.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said at the press briefing Friday afternoon that Trump is planning to visit Texas “early next week.”

Many state and local officials have urged residents to pay attention to evacuation orders, as it will be too late to leave once the storm hits.

Trump confirmed on Twitter that he had spoken with the governors of Texas and Louisiana, saying his administration is “closely monitoring” the storm and will “assist as needed.” In another tweet, the president said he had been briefed by officials from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA as well as other top members of his Cabinet.

Texas’ hurricane history

The storm is already being compared to Hurricane Bret, which hit Texas on Aug. 22, 1999. That storm made landfall in Kenedy County, just south of Corpus Christi, according to the National Weather Service — a path that was similar to the one forecast for Hurricane Harvey. However, the maximum wind speeds for Bret were 140 miles per hour at the time of landfall, making it a Category 4 storm.

Here’s a timeline of some of the recent hurricanes to hit Texas and the damage they caused:

Hurricane Bret (Aug. 22, 1999): The Category 4 storm made landfall on a Sunday evening about 60 miles south of Corpus Christi. Luckily, the area is sparsely populated compared to Corpus Christi, and so problems were limited. Central Kenedy County received more than 15 inches of rain over two days, according to the NWS. The storm did about $88 million in damages in 2017 figures. Four Americans died in the storm.

Hurricane Claudette (July 15, 2003): While Claudette came ashore as only a Category 1 storm with maximum winds of 90 miles per hour, it did extensive damage after coming ashore at Port O’Connor, about 100 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, and moving inland across Calhoun County, according to the NWS. Two people were killed.

Hurricane Rita (Sept. 24, 2005): The last Category 3 storm to make landfall in Texas was Rita, though it did so much farther north than Harvey is expected to land. Rita, which hit just three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, made landfall right along the Texas-Louisiana border with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. The town of Center, Texas — near Nacogdoches — received 10.48 inches of rain in the storm, but it moved quickly through the area, limiting rainfall accumulation. Still, 59 people from Texas were killed in the storm, according to the NWS, and a number of others died in a bus accident during evacuations.

Hurricane Ike (Sept. 13, 2008): Ike, the last hurricane to make landfall in Texas, hit near Galveston as a Category 2 storm after decimating areas of the Caribbean in the week prior with winds as high as 145 miles per hour. By the time it hit Galveston, winds were at a sustained maximum of 110 miles per hour, according to the NWS. The massive size of Ike resulted in substantial rainfall totals for the area. The highest total was 18.9 inches near Spring Creek, south of Houston, according to the NWS. Some sensors measuring storm surge actually failed due to salt water, according to a NOAA report, but the highest total was 17.5 feet in Chambers County.

Here’s a timeline of some of the recent hurricanes to hit Texas and the damage they caused:

Hurricane Bret (Aug. 22, 1999): The Category 4 storm made landfall on a Sunday evening about 60 miles south of Corpus Christi. Luckily, the area is sparsely populated compared to Corpus Christi, and so problems were limited. Central Kenedy County received more than 15 inches of rain over two days, according to the NWS. The storm did about $88 million in damages in 2017 figures. Four Americans died in the storm.

Hurricane Claudette (July 15, 2003): While Claudette came ashore as only a Category 1 storm with maximum winds of 90 miles per hour, it did extensive damage after coming ashore at Port O’Connor, about 100 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, and moving inland across Calhoun County, according to the NWS. Two people were killed.

Hurricane Rita (Sept. 24, 2005): The last Category 3 storm to make landfall in Texas was Rita, though it did so much farther north than Harvey is expected to land. Rita, which hit just three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, made landfall right along the Texas-Louisiana border with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. The town of Center, Texas — near Nacogdoches — received 10.48 inches of rain in the storm, but it moved quickly through the area, limiting rainfall accumulation. Still, 59 people from Texas were killed in the storm, according to the NWS, and a number of others died in a bus accident during evacuations.

Hurricane Ike (Sept. 13, 2008): Ike, the last hurricane to make landfall in Texas, hit near Galveston as a Category 2 storm after decimating areas of the Caribbean in the week prior with winds as high as 145 miles per hour. By the time it hit Galveston, winds were at a sustained maximum of 110 miles per hour, according to the NWS. The massive size of Ike resulted in substantial rainfall totals for the area. The highest total was 18.9 inches near Spring Creek, south of Houston, according to the NWS. Some sensors measuring storm surge actually failed due to salt water, according to a NOAA report, but the highest total was 17.5 feet in Chambers County.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-harvey-strengthens-category-storm-130-mph-winds/story?id=49412285

The post Hurricane Harvey strengthens to Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.