Hurricane Beryl — now classified as a weakened tropical depression — made landfall on the Texas coast early Monday, causing significant flooding and knocking out power to millions of Americans. According to PowerOutage.us, approximately 1.7 million residents, primarily in the southeastern portion of the state, were still without power as of Wednesday morning.
President Joe Biden told the Houston Chronicle Tuesday that his administration had been unable to provide prompt emergency aid to the Lone Star State following the storm's landing due to the White House's inability to "track down" state leaders and obtain a formal request for a major disaster declaration.
"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," said Biden.
The Chronicle, which endorsed Biden earlier this year, originally published the Democratic president's suggestion without comment from state leaders. Its report also contained a line that has since been removed claiming that a White House spokesperson "said officials tried to reach Abbott and Patrick multiple times," apparently without success.
