Trump’s Texas trip: As critics carp, he looks to be in charge

Donald Trump did what a president is supposed to do yesterday, visiting Corpus Christi for a briefing on hurricane relief efforts, talking up Texas and praising those on the front lines of the catastrophic flooding. As a levee was breached, reservoirs overflowed and Harvey dumped more rain on the battered Houston region, the president and his FEMA director demonstrated that the feds are coordinating with state and local officials in trying to aid the tens of thousands of displaced residents.

Exploiting Hurricane Harvey: Fiscal hawks fear big spenders will capitalize on Harvey relief bill

A $100 steak knife, a $600 filing cabinet, $300,000 in sports equipment and an $88,000 tactical combat vehicle may have nothing to do with Hurricane Katrina, but those items were paid for as part of a multibillion-dollar spending bill that Congress quickly passed after the 2005 storm, which has prompted lawmakers to become skeptical of disaster-relief bills. Twelve years later, with Hurricane Harvey still dumping water on flood-ravaged Houston, some are already worried that the next relief bill will pose the same problem: millions of dollars spent on wasteful or unrelated projects.

The Latest: Town scrubs game; football players clean school

Flooding in Houston coupled with Tropical Storm Harvey's outer rain bands heading east had emotions running high in New Orleans, especially among those whose homes flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says he won't second-guess the decision not to ask Houston residents to evacuate before Harvey hit the city with heavy rain and wind.

Harvey breaks rainfall records, spreads more disaster

People evacuate a neighborhood in west Houston inundated by floodwaters after a release from nearby Addicks Reservoir when it reached capacity Tuesday. more > Hurricane Harvey's rainfall topped 50 inches in some spots, setting a record for the continental U.S., as flooding reached more neighborhoods in Texas on Tuesday, forced further evacuations, spurred thousands of heroic rescues and stranded many more people.

Hurricane Harvey submerges some divides in Washington

Hurricane Harvey's still-rising flood waters have altered the landscape well beyond Texas: They have put aside, at least for now, vast differences within the Republican Party. Instead of the discord and infighting that's marked the first seven months of the Trump administration, Republican leaders on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are vowing to swiftly approve recovery funds for the areas devastated by the storm.

President Trump Hopes His Response to Hurricane Harvey Will Be a Model

President Donald Trump called Hurricane Harvey a storm of "epic proportions" and said he hopes his administration's response to the disaster will be regarded as a model. "We want to be looked at five years, ten years from now, as this is the way to do it," Trump said as he and his wife Melania received a briefing on the storm response at a fire station in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Harvey victims urged to file insurance claims fast

Homeowners whose properties were damaged by Harvey may face another challenge: filing insurance claims before a new Texas law takes effect on Friday. The statute, House Bill 1774 , limits penalties for property-casualty insurers when policyholders sue them for being slow to settle a claim, offer a lowball payout or decline a claim altogether.

Houston police make 3,400 rescues as Harvey gears up for another landfall

Houston police have rescued at least 3,400 people in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey - and that number is expected to rise, Police Chief Art Acevedo tweeted Tuesday morning. More than 17,000 evacuees were being housed in shelters across Texas as of Tuesday morning, the Red Cross tweeted.

Psaki: It’s too soon for Trump to go to Texas

Every helicopter supporting a Trump visit to Texas in response to Hurricane Harvey is a helicopter not picking survivors off rooftops. As President Donald Trump faces the first crisis of his presidency he fortunately has a chief of staff, John Kelly, who knows how to deal with emergency response, and a well-respected FEMA director in Brock Long leading an agency that has rebuilt itself since 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

The Memo: Trump grapples with disaster in Texas

President Trump faces political opportunities and perils as he visits Texas on Tuesday, grappling with the first natural disaster of his administration. Trump has been careful to avoid projecting any sense of disengagement in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, such as the pictures of then-President George W. Bush observing Hurricane Katrina's damage from Air Force One.

Trump pushes tax overhaul, says it’s ‘badly needed’

Public schools are grappling with the names, images of Confederate icons in the wake of the deaths at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia over a Robert E. Lee statue. After five days of torrential rain, the latest weather forecast predicts less than an inch of rain and perhaps even sunshine for the Houston area.

Trump heads to Texas to witness destruction as Harvey tests administration

President Trump pledged his "full support" Monday to the tens of thousands of Americans displaced by the epic hurricane and flooding that has devastated parts of coastal Texas and Louisiana, warning that recovery from Harvey will be a "long and difficult road." In the short term, he told reporters in the East Room, 'protecting the lives of our people is my highest priority.