President Joe Biden told the Houston Chronicle that federal officials were forced to delay the flow of emergency relief supplies after Hurricane Beryl struck Texas because top state officials dragged their feet in making a formal request for a major disaster declaration.
During an interview with the Chronicle, Biden said he “kept tracking the lieutenant governor” to start the process, but was unable to reach him until Tuesday afternoon. The storm reached the Texas coast at 4 a.m. Monday, resulting in at least six deaths and unleashing extended power outages in the Houston area.
After making contact, Biden “immediately” approved the declaration, opening the tap for aid, he said.
Lt. Gov. Patrick is serving as acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott travels in Asia on an economic development trip. That arrangement makes Patrick responsible for making the formal request — a step required in the process of securing federal relief for the state.
A White House spokesperson told the Chronicle that officials tried multiple times to reach both Abbott and Patrick, who are Republicans.
In a tweet, Patrick said Biden, a Democrat, was “falsely accusing” him of being unavailable.
“Before we made an official ask, we needed to determine what our outstanding needs were,” Patrick said. “We were working on that with local officials as we traveled the impacted areas.”
An Abbott spokesperson told the Chronicle that Biden’s comments were a “complete lie,” adding that the governor spoke to Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell while on his overseas trip.
“Biden’s memory fails again,” Abbott tweeted, taking a shot at concerns about the 81-year-old president’s age and fitness for office. “Not once did he call me during Beryl.”
The war of words comes as online critics lashed out at Abbott for waiting hours until after Beryl made landfall early Monday to offer any online comments about the storm or its impact. Instead, the governor’s first tweet that day touted his meeting with the Korea International Trade Association in Seoul.
The storm has left some 1.7 million in the state are without power, according to tracking site poweroutage.us, and resulted in Internet outages in San Antonio and other cities. As of Tuesday, 16 hospitals were running on generator power, the Associated Press reports, citing FEMA data.
Patrick said a Houston-area sports complex would temporarily house up to 250 hospital patients who couldn’t be discharged to homes without electricity, according to the Associated Press. However, he didn’t make that declaration until 36 hours after the storm made landfall, the wire service reports.
Abbott and Patrick have frequently been at odds with the Biden administration over the state’s attempts to handle immigration enforcement. The White House and the state also have battled in court over a variety of issues during Abbott’s tenure.
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This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2024.
