President Joe Biden to travel to Houston following Texas storm crisis
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will head to Houston on Friday as Texas recovers from final week’s winter storms that left tens of millions with out energy.
The White House didn’t launch extra particulars concerning the go to in its advisory, however press secretary Jen Psaki advised reporters in a Tuesday briefing that Biden is anticipated to meet with native officers to focus on winter storm aid efforts and progress towards restoration.
He’ll additionally go to a well being middle the place vaccines are being distributed, Psaki stated.
It’s Biden’s first journey to Texas as president.
Biden has accepted a significant catastrophe declaration for a lot of the state, including 31 extra counties to the declaration Monday. Gov. Greg Abbott requested a major disaster declaration for all 254 Texas counties, however Biden has not granted the total request.
The declaration opens the door to extra federal aid for Texans who’ve suffered injury from the freeze. The approval can help dwelling house owners and renters coping with the implications damaged water pipes.
A spokeswoman for Abbott didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark about whether or not the governor would meet with Biden in Houston.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat, praised Biden for touring to the Lone Star State.
“Our area has faced such devastation,” Jackson Lee tweeted. “I’m glad to be able to announce that the President of the United States Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden will be looking to come to our area this week to be able to give comfort and continued support to the recovery of our community and as well to emphasize the fight against COVID-19.”
Biden’s go to to a Houston well being middle comes after a whole lot of vaccine doses in Texas had been wasted due to energy outages throughout the freeze.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 969 wasted doses in its Feb. 19 weekly report, the most recent knowledge out there. More than 3,000 doses have been wasted since vaccines first arrived in Teas, that means that 30% of the state’s spoiled vaccines occured within the final week.
The cumulative quantity reveals almost 800 wasted vaccine doses due to a “natural disaster or power outage,” a brand new class for the weekly report. The state additionally reported 120 expired doses, 356 wasted as a result of the fridge was too heat and 184 destroyed due to “mechanical failure.”
More:President Joe Biden planning trip to storm-ravaged Texas, but ‘I don’t want to be a burden’
