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President Biden’s visit to the US state of Texas is aimed at inspecting the extensive damage caused by a severe snowstorm that left thousands of homes without power and drinking water amid the coronavirus pandemic.
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden arrived by plane Friday in Houston, Texas’ largest city, where they were received by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
The president visited a food depot in the city and an emergency operations center. Later, he would speak at a COVID-19 vaccination facility set up in a stadium by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
At least 40 people in Texas were killed when the winter storm swept across South American states in mid-February. Texas was hit hardest by the unusually cold temperatures that caused power outages and caused water pipes to freeze and explode, flooding homes and leaving many people without heat and drinking water.
Temperatures in the region are returning to normal, but more than 1 million Texas residents are still instructed to boil the water before drinking it.
As Democratic President Biden met with local leaders and volunteers to discuss relief and recovery efforts, he was accompanied by the Republican governor, who initially did not recognize Mr. Biden’s November victory over Donald Trump.
President Biden has declared a state of disaster in 108 of the state’s 254 counties and signaled he could increase the number. Governor Abbott asked President Biden last week to declare a state of disaster in all counties.
The declaration authorizes FEMA to provide funds for temporary housing, home repairs, and low-interest loans for unsecured property losses. The move also frees up funds to help troubled individuals and business owners.
President Biden’s deputy national security adviser, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, told reporters during a flight to Texas aboard Air Force One that the state’s lack of a regulatory energy system had damaged it during the storm.
“Texas has chosen not to make the kind of decisions that would provide the supplies you would have saved for an emergency – that is, to invest in a kind of sustainability that other regulatory states are required to invest in,” she said.
During President Biden’s first visit to a catastrophic country since taking office nearly six weeks ago, he also planned to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to help slow the pandemic that has killed more than 508 ‘ 000 people in the United States.
As with the coronavirus pandemic, the response of federal structures to the Texas disaster represents early evidence of President Biden’s promise to work for all segments of American society and thus unite the country.
The White House said President Biden would bring moral support and the security of federal financial aid to Texas, but would refrain from lecturing on the dangers of lacking a regulatory system for the state grid./VOA
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