Donald Trump signs disaster proclamation as Hurricane Harvey hits Texas

Donald Trump has signed a disaster proclamation as
he faces his first major emergency as President.
Billed as the strongest hurricane to hit the US in 12
years, Hurricane Harvey landed on a stretch of
coastline near the town of Rockport at around 10pm
local time (4am UK time) bringing "life threatening"
winds of 130mph.
Traffic lights lie in the middle of the road after
being blown over
Power to some homes was knocked out, and signs
and pieces of palm tree littered the streets as the
category 3 storm took hold.
There are also reports of roofs collapsing into
houses, trees being uprooted and buildings being
destroyed.
The storm is expected to dump more than 3ft (90cm)
of rain along the Texas coast and parts of Louisiana
over several days.
Harvey has been compared to one of America's
deadliest storms - Hurricane Katrina - which killed
more than a thousand people in New Orleans in 2005.
New Orleans does not lie in Harvey's direct path.
A picture taken of the Texas coast as Hurricane
Harvey approached
Donald Trump wrote on Twitter: "At the request of
the Governor of Texas, I have signed the Disaster
Proclamation, which unleashes the full force of
government help!"
The President is currently in Camp David "closely
watching the path and doings of Hurricane Harvey".
He earlier encouraged everyone in the path of the
storm "to heed the advice and orders of their local
and state officials".
The National Hurricane Center described the storm
as "life-threatening, dangerous and catastrophic".
Sky News Correspondent Siobhan Robbins took
shelter with some residents forced to leave their
homes in the city of Corpus Christi on the Gulf of
Mexico.
She said: "Officials have warned that this storm
could cut off power and water and homes could be
uninhabitable for months.
"Thousands have already been evacuated, but the
worry is that people have heard all this before and
still aren't getting themselves to safety."
Mayor of Rockport, Patrick Rios, warned residents
remaining in the area to "mark their arm with a
Sharpie pen with their name and social security
number" to make it easier for rescuers to identify
them.
Seven counties in Texas have ordered mandatory
evacuations, and tens of thousands of people left
their homes ahead of the storm's arrival.
Petrol prices shot up along the south Texas coast as
stations ran out of fuel, and there have been reports
of inflated consumer prices in some Texan
supermarkets.
Mr Trump is expected to visit Texas early next week.

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