Vice President Pence surveyed the wreckage caused by Hurricane Harvey on Thursday, visiting the devastated small coastal Texas town of Rockport, where the massive storm first hit the state.
The vice president, clad in jeans and cowboy boots, spoke outside the First Baptist Church, where a side of the building was blown out by the storm.
Pence said the Trump administration was “with you and we will stay with you until Rockport and all of southeast Texas come back.”
Karen Pence, the veep’s wife, is leading the attendees in a prayer.
The vice president was joined by Energy Secretary Rick Perry of Texas and other Cabinet members and shook hands and greeted people outside the storm-damaged church.
The vice president had earlier landed in Corpus Christi, and was greeted by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Pence’s visit comes two days after President Trump visited Corpus Christi and Austin for briefings with local officials.
The president later drew flak for saying he witnessed “first hand” the destruction caused by the storm and massive flooding — even though he didn’t visit any storm-damaged areas or meet with survivors.
The White House responded by saying that second-hand accounts relayed to the president by others were “certainly a first-hand account.”
“He met with a number of state and local officials who are eating, sleeping, breathing the Harvey disaster. He talked extensively with the governor, who certainly is right in the midst of every bit of this, as well as the mayors from several of the local towns that were hit hardest,” spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.
“And detailed briefing information throughout the day yesterday, talking to a lot of the people on the ground — that certainly is a firsthand account.”