Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday called chest-high flooding from Hurricane Harvey "one of the worst, if not the worst" the city has ever suffered, but defended a local decision to not order an evacuation.
In an interview on ABC News' "This Week," Abbott called the devastating flooding "a situation Houstonians have dealt with before," and said "our top goal is to save lives."
"This is an all-out effort on search and rescue," he said.
Flooding overtook roads and homes throughout Houston Sunday morning as the remnants of Harvey dumped about 20 inches of rain on some parts of the city overnight, the Washington Examiner reported.
At least one person was killed in the city when she tried to drive through the riding waters.This brings the death toll to two confirmed fatalities from the storm.
But Abbott refuse to criticize a local decision to not heed his warning that people should evacuate the city Friday, when Harvey made landfall near Corpus Christie.
"The local officials know best about this," he said. "The reason why they made the call, I think, is because they understood that the hurricane itself was unlikely to hit Houston. And they were prepared for the flooding that is occurring right now. So they have assets in place... including our military high-level vehicles that will assist in rescuing people as well as sending boats and perhaps helicopters to be involved if the search and rescue process."
He also praised the "swift, effective action and support" from the federal government.
"We could not be more appreciative of what the federal government has done from the president on down," he said. "[E]verything we have asked for, they have given us. The most important thing was I made a disaster declaration that the president granted very swiftly. It triggers [Federal Emergency Management Administration] involvement. They've been actively involved and engaged in the process long before the hurricane hit the ground.
"Texas will be able to begin the rebuilding process swiftly."
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