CORPUS CHRISTI: President Donald Trump flew into storm-ravaged Texas on Tuesday in a show of solidarity and leadership in the face of the deadly devastation wrought by Harvey — as the battered US Gulf Coast braces for even more torrential rain.

Four days after Harvey slammed onshore as a monster Category Four hurricane, turning roads to rivers in America’s fourth-largest city, emergency crews are still racing to reach hundreds of stranded people in a massive round-the-clock rescue operation.

Eager to strike a unifying tone as the country faces the first natural disaster of his presidency, Trump landed with his wife Melania in the coastal town of Corpus Christi which bore the full brunt of Harvey’s fury.

The US leader was not planning to visit Houston — swathes of which remain under water — and his spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on board Air Force One his schedule was still in flux as rain continues to pummel Texas.

Trump has pledged the federal government’s full support as the Lone Star State makes the “long and difficult road to recovery,” insisting ahead of his trip: “We are one American family”.

Harvey is known to have left at least three people dead so far, with six more deaths potentially tied to the storm, and officials warned the danger has far from passed.

With neighbouring Louisiana squarely in the storm’s path, Harvey, now a tropical storm, is pressing eastward and is expected to make landfall again late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Residents of Louisiana’s low-lying city of New Orl­eans — which Tuesday mar­ked the 12th anniversary of devastating Hurricane Katrina — are bracing for heavy rain and flash floods over the next two days.

Highways were swamped and homes were rendered uninhabitable, with power lines cut and dams overflowing.

Already, some 50 inches of rain have fallen over Houston, sparking massive floods across the city of 2.3 million people, and its wider metropolitan area of six million.

Houston can expect two to four more inches of rain as the storm moves away, but flooded conditions will likely linger through the end of the week, meteorologist Eric Holthaus said.Federal officials estimate that up to half a million people in Texas will ultimately require some form of assistance — but for now the focus remains immediate disaster relief.

‘Storm stilettos’

First Lady Melania Trump is making waves ... for her flood fashion. The former model is always elegantly turned out and perfectly coiffed, and Tuesday was no exception as she left the White House with her president husband for storm-ravaged Texas.

Trump was photographed walking across the White House lawn in sky-high stiletto pumps, part of an outfit that included tailored capri pants, an army green bomber jacket with ruched sleeves and aviator sunglasses.

“Melania over here looking like Flood Watch Barbie,” writer Maria Del Russo tweeted. “Help is on the way, Texas! Don’t worry, Melania has her special storm stilettos,” television writer-producer Brad Wollack quipped. Added comedian Jessica Kirson: “Brilliant idea @FLOTUS. You can pick up debris with your heels.”

President Donald Trump’s outfit was more in line with what politicians normally wear to visit weary survivors of deadly storms: a black hooded rain jacket, khaki trousers and brown boots.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2017