Hurricane Harvey – Donald and Melania Trump visit flood-stricken residents of Corpus Christi after worst rainfall in US history
DONALD Trump declared Texas can "handle anything" as he and wife Melania visited flood-stricken residents swamped by the worst rainfall in US history.
The president described the Biblical floods as "epic" and claimed: "Nobody's ever seen this much water", as he flew into Corpus Christi on Tuesday.
Trump described the storm as the "biggest ever" and promised to 'rebuild' affected parts of Texas and Louisiana.
He told a press conference: "Nobody has ever seen anything like it. I've heard the words 'epic', I've heard 'historic' - and that's what it is.
"We ask God for his wisdom and strength. We will get through this. The rebuilding will begin. And in the end it will be something very special.
"We are one American family. We hurt together, we struggle together. And believe me, we endure together."
The president's visit came after First Lady Melania raised eyebrows for her choice of footwear ahead of the walkabout in flood-ravaged Texas.
Melania was pictured alongside Trump as the pair prepared to meet emergency crews and victims in Corpus Christi and Austin today in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
But while the president was seen donning a windbreaker and brown boots as he left Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the first lady went for a pair of black stilettos as she prepared to visit the disaster zone.
Within a few hours she had switched into a pair of white trainers and a baseball cab for the couple's arrival in Corpus Christi.
Ahead of the trip, the First Lady tweeted: "I will travel with @POTUS tomorrow to lend my support to the people of #Texas. We are with you!"
But her attire attracted the scorn of Twitter users across the globe.
Eve Williams wrote: "@MELANIATRUMP LOSE THE STILETTOS!!!! YOU ARE GOING TO TEXAS..NOT A FASHION SHOW!!!!!"
Joel Connelly added: "Watched Melania Trump leave White House for Texas flood visit, in enormously high heels. Is she stocking sensible shoes on AF 1?"
Another added: "I'm confused. Is Melania flying Marine One or is there a Top Gun reunion in Texas?"
The deadly storm has claimed the lives of at least 15 people and flood waters continue to rise after the worst hurricane to hit the region in 50 years.
An estimated 30,000 people will be displaced because of the heavy floods and there's fears the muddy waters could spark skin rashes, bacterial and viral infections and mosquito-borne disease.
People are most likely to drown, especially those who are trapped in vehicles, said Renee Funk, associate director for emergency management of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators is another threat.
She said: "Unfortunately, we expect there will be people who die from that and people will be poisoned from it."
A year after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, regions in Louisiana and Mississippi affected by the flood reported a doubling of cases of neuroinvasive West Nile virus - cases in which the virus caused severe inflammation in the brain or spinal cord, said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
One heartbreaking picture shows a young child forced to sleep under a tarpaulin sheet on a roof after his home was deluged with floodwater.
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Another harrowing image shows OAPs sitting waist-deep in water in a flood-hit care home — and one of them is still knitting.
The group of 15 had to be rescued by helicopter in Dickinson, Texas, as Hurricane Harvey wrought havoc.
The storm has so far affected about a quarter of the Texas population, or 6.8 million people in 18 counties.
"The breadth and intensity of this rainfall is beyond anything experienced before," the National Weather Service said in a statement.
The city of Houston is braced for more rain and rescues today.
Officials started releasing even more water from reservoirs overwhelmed by Harvey - even though the move aimed at protecting downtown Houston could make already devastating flooding worse around thousands of homes.
President Donald Trump has issued a federal emergency declaration for Louisiana as a storm that's flooded Houston dumps heavy bands of rain on that state.
Trump's emergency declaration on Monday initially covers five parishes in southwest Louisiana: Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermillion.
A White House statement says the action authorises the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts in those counties related to Harvey.
The declaration also authorises the federal government to cover 75 percent of costs of certain emergency protective measures.
Emergency crews raced to pull people from cars and homes as the hurricane caused chest-deep flooding on some streets in Houston.
Schools, airports and office buildings in Houston, home to about 2.3 million people, were ordered shut on Monday as scores of roads turned into rivers and chest-high water filled neighbourhoods in the low-lying city.
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
Damages from Harvey, the hurricane and tropical storm ravaging Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast, are estimated to be well below those from major storms that have hit New Orleans and New York.
Hannover Re, one of the world's largest reinsurers, said that insured losses for Katrina in 2005 were around $80 billion, while losses for Sandy in 2012 were $36 billion.
"We are far from Katrina and Sandy in magnitude in the case of Hurricane Harvey," a spokeswoman for the company said.
Harvey was set to dump more rain on Houston on Monday, worsening flooding that has paralysed the United States' fourth-biggest city, forced thousands to flee and swollen rivers to levels not seen in centuries.
Torrential rain also hit areas more than 150 miles away, swelling rivers upstream and causing a surge that was heading toward the Houston area.
Authorities ordered more than 50,000 people to leave parts of Fort Bend County, about 35 miles southwest of Houston as the Brazos River was set to crest at a record high of 59 feet this week, 14 feet above its flood stage.
Brazos County Judge Robert Hebert told reporters the forecast crest represents a high not seen in at least 800 years.