Thank you all for being here today. What has happened in the past 24 hours i would like to bring you up to speed on what i know and take a few questions. Let me start with some generalities and then get down to some more details. First, now that the hurricane has come onshore, our concern remains dramatic flooding. According to information that i was provided, there has been about 20 inches of rain in the Corpus Christi area, 16 inches of rain in the houston area. The biggest concern is the possibility between 2030 more inches of rain in areas ranging from Corpus Christi over to houston. Because of the flooding, one of the top focal points that we are concerned about is ongoing rescue and recovery. We want to do everything we can to keep people out of rising water. Part of that is by constant warnings to the public about being vigilant, about observing rising water around you as you are traveling, if you are out on the roads. Always watch for water on the road, remembering that when you come across water it could be much deeper than what your eye observes. Or the swiftness of the current can be stronger than what you perceive. You know the wellknown phrase, turn around, dont drown. Do not risk your life. Still the most important thing that all texans can do or who who are affected is to put your attention of your life first and life and the protection of your life first and foremost. In addition to that, the state and various agencies remain active in the search and rescue process, and that will be one of the foremost task we undertake in the coming days. We have focused on working with and supporting evacuees, especially from the corpus Corpus Christi area now expanding to larger areas. Have the opportunity yesterday to go to san antonio to visit with evacuees. You could sense a sense of relief on their part that they were out of the way of what was an increasingly threatening storm. They were happy to be alive. They were at these in that regard, but obviously also peace in that regard, but also concerned about what they had left behind, the possibility that they had lost or would be losing the place they lived or some other property. They were just happy to be alive. I have issued a disaster declaration that originally included 30 counties. This is a state disaster declaration, and we have now added 20 more counties for a total of 50 counties. As you probably know, i requested a federal disaster declaration that the president granted last night. This is very important and very extremely fast. What the president ial proclamation about our death disaster declaration does is immediately triggers the implementation of fema. And femas assistance for individuals as well as cities and counties for all of us to begin the rebuilding process as quickly as possible. Something else that i did yesterday is i issued a proclamation, waving Hotel Occupancy taxes for all evacuees and First Responders. So any place in the state of texas, whether it is an evacuee or first responder, they will have their hotel taxes waived. I just got word from the fort ben county judge who has issued a voluntary evacuation for the bend county judge who has issued a voluntary evacuation for the brazos river area in Fort Bend County and a mandatory the bernard. This is one of the foremost regions in effect that already has flooding and we anticipate the flooding to grow worse in that area. This morning i had the opportunity to make phone calls to several of the mayors who were affected by the hurricane last night. I spoke with the mayor of victoria and spoke with the air mayor of port lavaca. I made a phone call to the mayors of Corpus Christi and rockport. I did not have the ability to connect the left messages. For the mayors of victoria and port lavaca, they seem to be in strong spirits. They preside over cities that have suffered some meaningful damage, but they are working very aggressively to try to help their citizens respond to their , and i offerd offe them as well as the other mayors any and all help that the state of texas can provide. Now for some more granular detail. As a result of the briefing that i just had. Looking at the Texas Military thanion, there are more 1300 Service Members who are currently activated, and we anticipate increasing that amount by 500 more, giving us about Service Members who will 1800 be activated to assist in responding to the hurricanes and its aftermath. As far as the Texas Department of transportation, they are already undertaking cleanup operations around the Corpus Christi and yoakam areas working to clear pathways along the roadways there, which is impressive that they were able to get in that quickly and begin that process. With the puc, they say there are more than 338,000 outages, it and it will be several days perhaps before those outages will be addressed. For that is because the wind to speed in the area of where they are going to be able to take care of those outages has to decrease below a level before they are able to respond. As far as Emergency Services are concerned, which includes the Texas Military, texas parks and wildlife, Texas Task Force one two, ones task force of their primary focal points is search and rescue. They have already made several search and rescue operations, hoistingy voic through the helicopter process. We have about 1000 personnel in this state of texas who are assigned to searchandrescue. The texas parks and wildlife has about 1500 evacuees at state parks, and again, any costs that incurred hasy be been waived for evacuees. For the Texas Department of public safety, they have assigned about 80 troopers to the Corpus Christi area for law in Law Enforcement needs in that region. For the red cross, they have 21 shelters open already with a population of about 1450, and they have 42 more shelters on standby to be ready. Importantly, those are red cross shelters. There are so many other shelters across texas, whether they be local churches or other local facilities, and we are very, very appreciative of everyone in the state of texas who are providing shelter, food and other supplies. Along those lines i do want to express my gratitude. At the shelter i was at yesterday, there was a need for towels and for blankets and bedding for the people who were there. We made a public plea and that plea was answered swiftly. So thank you to the people of san antonio for responding to the needs of the people from Corpus Christi who have sheltered in san antonio. On transportation, we have 228 buses that are available to continue to move evacuees and more than 100 bus trips for evacuees have already been undertaken. We have across multiple agencies , we are in the process of getting water, ice, food and supplies to the needed areas. We are in the process of setting up staging areas where those supplies will soon be able to be delivered to those that need them. Why dont i take a few questions . What guidance have you been given about how bad the flooding is . Are we expecting homes to be swept away off riverbanks . That pertains to your search and rescue. What would you say to those people who are in their homes being advised to evacuate . Sure. The best information we have, our predictions about the rainfall that will come on top of the rainfall that already occurred, and that is that in various key regions from Corpus Christi to the houston area perhaps as much as between 20 and 30 more inches of rain could be coming down. That is coming down on already saturated ground and already filled up waterways. Orhether they be creeks, by rivers. There is a potential for very dramatic flooding. It is essential for people who are near those flood zones to do several things. One is be aware of your surroundings. Two is to listen to warnings given out by local officials and obey those warnings. And three, whenever you enter out my car or any other way be very cautious, knowing not only is it rising water, but oftentimes it will be swift moving water that can carry you away. For everybody in the state of texas, your top responsibility is to protect your life. When ever you are near water, be sure that you are doing everything to stay safe. Can you confirm the fatalities from the storm . We dont have any information right now that we can confirm any fatalities. That is information that we will be working with local officials, seeking confirmation that we can report later. Do expect to report that later . When ever we receive confirmation of fatalities and confirmation and that it was a result of the storm as opposed to some other cause, we will confirm it, but we cannot confirm it at this time. Are there any reports youre looking into . No. What is happening right now is our First Responders are putting their lives on the line to get out there and do search and rescue for those in need. What you will see over the next few hours and days is that if as the wind and weather conditions allow, they will do as many rescues as they possibly can. The message to those who need help her rescue is to put that signal out there that you are still there and need help. If you still have electricity or makeice, sen sure we can see them. Keep our First Responders in your thoughts and prayers, because they are risking their lives in these dangerous conditions to look for you. Can you share some of the contact you have had with evacuees . Right. It was so heartening to shake the hands of these evacuees as they got off the buses. Thatked around the school they were being housed in and got to visit with them. They are what i call typical texans. They were resilient. They were strong. They were strong spirited. They were happy. They were just happy to be there and be alive. But obviously, they were in need. There was a part of them that were facing a sense of the shop that comes with displacement shock that comes with displacement. There was a growing need for supplies. They are receiving three meals a day, but they are just so warm hearted, so full of spirit, and so pleased to be alive. We have time for two more. [inaudible] it is way too early to make any estimates about that. What i can say is that we are pleased that the federal government have stepped up in the strong way they have in granting our disaster declaration to better deal with the financial consequences of the storm. Reports inve been the field of undocumented immigrants being turned away. I have no information about that. You suggested earlier in the week that there were people not heeding the evacuation calls, maybe more than expected . I will correct that. I did not suggest that they were not heeding it. What i was suggesting is that if a local official has warned people to evacuate, it is very heedrtant that the citizens those warnings by their local officials. Thank you. Announcer cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up sunday morning, the foundation for defense of democracy and Phyllis Bennett from the institute for policy discussed the trump administrations foreignpolicy recent president s speech on afghanistan. Then a former naval officer with the Hudson Institute for american seapower talked about the recent collisions involving u. S. Warships. Be sure to watch cspans washington journal, blythe at 7 00 a. M. Eastern sunday morning. Join the discussion. Now, author and Chicago State University professor talking about her book which examines how her younger brother became part of the socalled schooltoprison pipeline. This is just one hour
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