An early afternoon phone call between President Joe Biden and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — normally bitter political rivals — helped speed federal disaster aid to help the Houston area recover from Hurricane Beryl’s flooding rains.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo got the ball rolling, requesting emergency assistance from the White House.
Biden followed up with a phone call to Patrick, who is acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott leads a Texas trade delegation to Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.
“On the call, the president raised the need for a major disaster declaration and immediately approved it while on the call when the lieutenant governor requested it,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
“With this major disaster declaration in place, we will be able to provide lifesaving and life-sustaining activities,” Jean-Pierre said.
The bipartisan moment unraveled later Tuesday when the Houston Chronicle reported Biden said he was delayed in making the disaster declaration because the White House could not reach Abbott or Patrick.
“I’ve been trying to track down the governor to see — I don’t have any authority to do that without a specific request from the governor,” Biden told the Houston Chronicle.
Patrick called Biden’s accusation “a load of malarkey.”
“I am disappointed that President Biden is turning Hurricane Beryl into a political issue,” Patrick said on social media. “We had a cordial call today that ended up with him granting my request for a major disaster declaration. But that’s not good enough for him.”
In a social media post while overseas, Abbott said, “Biden’s memory fails again.”
“Not once did he call me during Beryl,” Abbott wrote on the platform X. “He has my number & called me on Memorial Day after tornadoes hit Texas.”
Earlier Tuesday, Hidalgo said the federal relief money will be a “game-changer” for areas damaged by deadly floods and wind speeds that topped 90 mph, leading to widespread power outages in the greater Houston area.
“Our community has been battered over the past few months, and this is a big ray of hope for us,” Hidalgo said.
Several million Texans were still without power Tuesday after storm damage deprived large areas of air conditioning, food and water in dangerous heat.
A heat advisory was in effect through Wednesday in the Houston area and beyond, with temperatures expected in the 90s that, combined with humidity, will feel as hot as 105 degrees.
Beryl, which made landfall early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, has been blamed for at least seven U.S. deaths — one in Louisiana and six in Texas — and at least 11 in the Caribbean. At midday Tuesday, it was a post-tropical cyclone centered over Arkansas.
More than 2.1 million homes and businesses around Houston lacked electricity Tuesday, down from a peak of more than 2.7 million a day earlier, according to PowerOutage.us.
Nim Kidd, head of the state’s Division of Emergency Management, said at a Galveston County news conference that restoring power is the No. 1 priority. With food spoiling in powerless refrigerators, long lines of cars and people lined up at fast food restaurants, food trucks and gas stations that had power.
It could take days to fully return power in Texas after Beryl toppled 10 transmission lines.
Also speaking from Galveston County before the Houston newspaper reported Biden’s criticism, Patrick said the president asked if Texas wanted him to issue an emergency disaster declaration that would allow the federal government to help cover expenses from the recovery.
“We have agreed to that, and we are appreciative that the federal government has stepped in,” Patrick said. “They will pick up most of the cost as we go through recovery here of the storm.”
Patrick, who has led former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns in Texas, added: “We are one when it comes to responding.”
Abbott, criticized by the Texas Democratic Party for being out of state during the weather emergency and recovery, lamented the damage caused by Beryl during an event in Seoul, South Korea.
Greg Abbott has abandoned Texans yet again. pic.twitter.com/gWgTAJdbTM
— Texas Democrats (@texasdemocrats) July 9, 2024
“Our hearts grieve for all Texans who were affected by the hurricane,” Abbott told reporters Tuesday. “I’m particularly sorrowful to learn about the deaths and injuries of some of my fellow Texans.”
Spokespeople for Abbott did not immediately respond to an email asking if there have been discussions about cutting the trip short. North Texas is 14 hours behind Seoul.
With the storm having left Texas, Abbott said emergency response teams are focused on helping residents get back to normal.
“The storm may be gone, but there are still dangers in the aftermath of the storm because of a lot of rain and ongoing flooding,” Abbott said to a room of mainly South Korean reporters. “We are in the recovery-and-rebuild position of responding to the storm. The Texas Division of Emergency Management is working with local officials as well as federal officials to fully respond to this crisis.”
Abbott, in East Asia since Saturday promoting Texas as a manufacturing and investment hub, has visited Taiwan and South Korea. He’ll end the trip with a three-day visit to Japan.
“I’ve been able to manage this foreign trade trip, as well as respond to the storm, by working late at night and early in the morning,” he said. “I’ve been working with emergency management officials in the state of Texas.”
Abbott’s East Asia trip ends Friday night Tokyo time. North Texas also is 14 hours behind Tokyo.
The Associated Press and staff writer Nolan D. McCaskill contributed to this report.
