Ted Cruz On Catastrophic Flooding In Texas: ‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It’

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Sunday expressed how rattled he is by the magnitude of flooding hitting his state and especially his home town of Houston, following the onset of category-three Hurricane Harvey over the weekend.

“We’ve been seeing resources pouring into the region both from the state of Texas and at the federal level, but this is a 500-year flood, and Harvey is predicted to stay here and keep dumping a significant amount of water on the region,” he said on Fox News Sunday, using the term often coined by governmental officials to describe a flood of exceptional vastness.

He also expressed shock over photos and videos of flooding he had seen of parts of the region, like at major airports.

“At least one of the runways was completely underwater. It looked like a lake. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

Cruz mentioned he had spoken with President Donald Trump and the Vice President, but did not elaborate on their conversation. He said the main priority for state and federal officials right now is “the preservation of life.”

“We are still in an active disaster situation,” he said. “Priority number one is saving lives, getting people out of life-threatening situations.”

The hurricane and subsequent flooding has been described by government agencies as a “landmark” event, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency director saying he predicts the department will be working on relief and recovery efforts in Texas for “years” to come.

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