Trump departs for Texas, calls deadly flooding ‘a horrible thing’

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump departed for Texas on Friday to visit flood-stricken areas, calling the recent disaster “a horrible thing” during remarks to reporters before boarding Marine One.

“Nobody can even believe it,” Trump said. “But we’re going to be there with some of the great families and others—the governor, everybody.”

Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are set to visit communities in Kerr County, where heavy rainfall last week caused the Guadalupe River to rise 26 feet in less than an hour, killing at least 121 people, including dozens of children at Camp Mystic, a nearby Christian summer camp.

The July 4 flooding engulfed the Guadalupe River, pushing it to a crest of more than 39 feet (11.8 meters), surpassing the region's second-largest modern flood, in 1987.