Trump surveys Carolina storm damage, gives out meals to Florence victims
At a church in the hard-hit coastal town of
"How's the house?" Trump asked a resident as locals snapped cell phone pictures. "You take care of yourself."
Trump told another person who waited more than an hour for the packaged meal to "have a good time."
At least 37 deaths have been attributed to
Thousands of evacuees have been urged to stay away from their homes as rivers continued to rise and flooding remains a concern.
"The job you've done has been incredible. They're talking about it all over the world," Trump told emergency workers. "We want to keep it going that way. Some of the hard work is now."
The President also not-so-subtly asked specifically about an area in
"How is
The President later traveled to
The death toll included two women who drowned when a sheriff's van taking them to a mental health facility was swept away by floodwaters,
High-water rescue teams were able to safely retrieve the deputies, but Windy Wenton, 45, and 43-year-old
In addition, a
The storm featured plenty tales of heroism. A man trying to leave a
Cornelius and two other men went into the chest-deep water from which Cornelius emerged with the woman on his back.
"I thought I was gone,"
Cornelius said stopping to help was "a no brainer."
"You did good, Daddy," his daughter said from the backseat.
The storm took a devastating toll on animals, as well.
Nearly 3.5 million chickens and turkeys and 5,500 hogs have been killed in the
"Our farmers took extraordinary measures in advance of this storm, including moving thousands of animals out of harm's way as the hurricane approached," the group said in a statement. "We believe deeply in our commitment to provide care for our animals amid these incredibly challenging circumstances."
Trump, meanwhile, was trying to get ahead of any potential criticism, like what he faced after Hurricane Maria ravaged
"Right now, everybody is saying what a great job we are doing with Hurricane Florence -- and they are 100% correct," Trump tweeted a day before his visit. "But don't be fooled, at some point in the near future the
But Trump was quiet about
Trump was roundly criticized for the federal government's response to the tragedy, for disputing revised death tolls and for flinging paper towels like basketballs to people on a supply line during his last visit.
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