President Donald Trump will visit Texas today to show support for residents braving catastrophic tropical storm Harvey and to assess the recovery effort in the face of what he called the "terrible tragedy".
"Right now every American heart sends its love and support to those whose lives have been upended," Trump said at the White House yesterday.
"We will get through this. We will come out stronger."
Trump and First Lady Melania plan to tour and assess the federal response on the Texas Gulf Coast. They are expected to meet with local leaders and organisations handling the relief before heading to Austin for tour of the Department of Public Safety emergency operations center.
They are sidestepping Houston, where flood waters are still rising, toavoid complicating ongoing rescue efforts. Instead, he and the first lady will visit the Corpus Christi area, where Harvey made landfall on Friday night, packing 130 mile-an-hour winds.
In Houston, rescuers are scrambling to reach hundreds of stranded people as Harvey appeared poised to strike again.
The president has been eager to travel to Texas since the weekend, but said he waited until he could do so "without causing disruption."
"The focus must be life and safety," Trump tweeted on Sunday.
Trump said he may pay a second visit to the region on Saturday.
Depending on the path of the storm, that trip could also include a stop in Louisiana.
A year ago, as a presidential candidate,Trump paid a surprise visitto flood-ravaged parts of Louisiana.
Then-President Barack Obama, who was vacationing at the time on Martha's Vineyard, was criticised in some quarters for not making his own trip.
Obama travelled to Louisiana the following week.
Trump made an effort to get ahead of Hurricane Harvey, signing a disaster declaration for Texas on Friday night, as the storm was bearing down on the Gulf Coast.
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