As tough as Hurricane Harvey has been, the response from the country and state has been a "wonderful thing," President Donald Trump said Saturday while visiting a rescue center in Houston.
"I saw a lot of happiness," Trump said during a break from greeting families staying at the center. "As tough as this was, it's been a wonderful thing, I think, even for the country to watch it, for the world to watch."
The president, as part of his second trip to Texas this week, visited NRG Stadium in Houston, where nearly 2,000 people are still being sheltered. Taking a break from talking to families, including children, posing for selfies, and handing out some food to people, Trump described the reaction he saw on Saturday to the devastation as "beautiful."
"Have a good time, everybody," he told reporters. "I'm going to be doing a little help over here. They're really happy with what's going on. It's something, I think, that's been very well-received."
The president and first lady Melania Trump later visited Louisiana first responders and storm victims.
Trump said he did see the flooding, and "there's a lot of water, but it's leaving pretty quickly. But there's a lot of water, a lot of water, but it's moving out."
He added that most importantly, the relationship between the state, Gov. Greg Abbott, Mayor Sylvester Turner, and the federal government has been "great."
"We're signing a lot of documents now to get money, $7.9 billion," said Trump, referring to a request he made to Congress on Friday for initial Harvey relief funding. "We signed it and now it's going through a very quick, hopefully quick progress."
Trump arrived in the state earlier on Saturday to meet with emergency responders and victims of Harvey. The president, dressed in a black jacket with no tie, landed at Ellington Field military base in Houston, accompanied by his wife Melania Trump, who wore a baseball cap emblazoned with the word "Texas," trousers and casual canvas footwear.
Shortly after landing, Trump took to Twitter, reassuring Texans "We are with you today, we are with you tomorrow, and we will be with you EVERY SINGLE DAY AFTER, to restore, recover, and REBUILD!"
However, Trump came under criticism on Tuesday when he stayed clear of the disaster zone during his first visit, but he said he did not want to hamper rescue efforts by his visit.
The president planned to visit first in Houston with flood survivors and volunteers before moving on to Lake Charles, Louisiana, which was also hammered by Harvey after it made landfall again later in the week as a tropical storm.
Trump also addressed the recovery efforts in his weekly public address on Saturday, saying that when "one part of America hurts, we all hurt.
"When we see neighbors in need, we rush to their aid. We don't ask their names or where they are from -- we help our fellow Americans every single time," Trump said in his weekly address.
He added: "All American hearts are with the people of Texas and Louisiana. We mourn and pray and struggle through the hardships — together."
Harvey, one of the most extensive and costly hurricanes to hit the United States, displaced more than one million people and killed 46 people. It also swelled river levels to record highs and knocked out the drinking water supply in Beaumont, Texas, a city of 120,000 people.
After Hurricane Harvey came ashore last Friday, much of the damage took place in the Houston metropolitan area, which has an economy about the same size as Argentina's.
Seventy percent of Harris County, which encompasses Houston, at one point was covered with 18 inches or more of water, county officials said.
The Trump administration in a letter to Congress on Friday asked for a $7.85 billion appropriation for response and initial recovery efforts. White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert has said aid funding requests would come in stages as more became known about the impact of the storm.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has said his state may need more than $125 billion.
The storm, which lingered around the Gulf Coast for days, dumped record amounts of rain and left devastation across more than 300 miles of the state's coast.
As water receded, many returned to survey the damage.
In Orange, Texas, about 125 miles east of Houston, Sam Dougharty, 36, returned on Friday where waist-high water remained in his backyard and barn.
His family's house smelled like raw sewage and was still flooded to the ankles. A calf and a heifer from their herd of 15 were dead.
"We never had water here. This is family land. My aunt's owned it for 40 years and never had water here," he said.
The area was slowly coming back to life, Orange County Sheriff Keith Merritt said on Saturday. But streets remained littered with flooded out vehicles and many homes were without power, he said.
On Saturday, some of those forced into shelters by Harvey are attending a Houston Astros game, where the mayor is tossing out the first pitch.
Meanwhile, a new storm, Irma, had strengthened on Friday into a Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. It remained hundreds of miles from land but was forecast to possibly hit Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti by the middle of next week.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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