A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
In a few minutes, we'll hear from a former FEMA administrator on how proposed cutbacks to the agency could affect disaster recovery. But first, we'll check in on the latest from central Texas, where President Trump is heading today.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
It was just about this time one week ago that the magnitude of the flooding there began to come into focus. At least 120 people have died, and more than 170 others are listed as missing. Today, President Trump is expected to see some of the worst damage firsthand.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Frank Morris has been in Kerr County. Frank, what will the president be seeing and doing during his visit today?
FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE: He's going to have a pretty busy afternoon here, A. He'll be meeting with first responders who've been working nonstop for a week. He'll also get a briefing from local elected officials, then hold a round table discussion. And President Trump's also planning to meet with family members who are directly affected by this terrible flood.
MARTÍNEZ: What do the people who live around there think about the president's visit?
MORRIS: You know, I think most people directly affected by the flood have been too busy to really think about it. In Hunt, where some of the worst damage is, lots of people don't have internet. They do have a ton of immediate pressing problems. The government response has been forceful. FEMA's in town, though the agency's acting director, David Richardson, has been absent. The secretary of Homeland Security has been here, along with other federal responders. The main road along the Guadalupe River is just chockablock with police and fire personnel, Texas game wardens and others. Andi Fell (ph), who lives in Hunt, says she's delighted that Trump is coming.
ANDI FELL: You know, we're grateful. We're grateful for the support he's given us, you know, along with other organizations, the governor. I feel like, from what I've seen just being here, they've done an excellent job with response and help.
MORRIS: Of course, there have been some complaints from residents who feel the response has been spotty. That's pretty common after these disasters. It's easy for a victim to feel ignored if they don't personally see a first responder.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Still, though, it is a major relief effort happening there. So people whose homes were damaged, how are they faring?
MORRIS: Well, you know, they're getting by with lots and lots of volunteers. I'm talking about hundreds of people making food, teams of volunteers searching for victims still - volunteers cutting trees, volunteers operating shovels and volunteers running heavy equipment. Bryce Flowers (ph) from Kerrville, who's been out here in the heat, running his skid-steer loader for 10 hours a day since the flooding and scooping up debris from people's homes, he says that hundreds of people from all over Texas and several other states are working just as hard.
BRYCE FLOWERS: We've got groups that have made contact with us that we don't even know who they are. They've been down here for three or four days. We still haven't even seen their faces. We've just communicated and directed them to the spot that needs the most help, and they've just jumped right in and gone. So it's a huge, huge thing for people to come together, not just from our community, but from those around us.
MORRIS: And, of course, it's a huge, huge job ahead of them, too. The destruction along miles and miles of the Guadalupe River is just breathtaking.
MARTÍNEZ: And for a lot of those people, I mean, they're right there on the frontlines trying to clean things up and doing their best to search for bodies. I mean, the psychological toll for them has - also has to be pretty enormous.
MORRIS: Oh, absolutely, A. Volunteers are out there looking for bodies. Sometimes, they find one, and they're not in good shape. I saw a community leader yesterday break down just looking at the river. You see people shoveling out houses with tears in their eyes. And all the deaths, at least 36 children, primarily little girls, washed away from Camp Mystic, that hits people. Alysha Strader (ph) is eight months pregnant with a girl, and Strader says she and her husband have been in a kind of limbo.
ALYSHA STRADER: We've been having a really hard week, you know, kind of coming to terms with hearing the little girls' names, and then trying to be excited, too, about, you know, having a baby next month.
MORRIS: Yeah, she says it's been really heavy for them. And, of course, the psychological damage from a catastrophe like this can just linger on for years.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Frank Morris in central Texas, Frank, thanks.
MORRIS: You bet, A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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