Hurricane Harvey plowed into the Texas coastline Friday night and its effects were still being felt into the night Sunday as Houston dealt with historic flooding and coastal cities picked up the pieces from a Category 4 storm.
Harvey dumped 20 inches of rain on Houston between Saturday and Sunday, a little less than half as much as the city receives in rain every year. Reports indicated somewhere between three and five people were killed by the storm Sunday evening.
President Trump sought to reassure the country that he was working to coordinate a governmental response to the storm, tweeting multiple times throughout the weekend about the efforts of federal, state, and local authorities.
Before the flooding began, FEMA Director Brock Long promised the agency was ready for Hurricane Harvey. He’d later say the agency is prepared for a mission that is going to be measured in years in Houston and the surrounding areas affected by the storm.
The federal response to the storm was praised by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who said Trump and the federal government have been providing everything the state needs after a disaster declaration was quickly declared last week.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price declared a public health disaster in southeastern Texas as the hurricane made landfall, bringing more resources to bear.
Trump held several Cabinet meetings about the storm during the weekend as he followed the storm from Camp David. In the second meeting of the Cabinet, he stressed supporting Texas and Louisiana as the storm rolled through.
Trump said Sunday morning he wanted to visit the affected areas of Texas as soon as he could and the White House announced later in the day that he’ll be going to the area on Tuesday.
The storm got very serious very quickly on Sunday, including for a group of reporters at KHOU. The station had to be evacuated due to floodwaters making their way into the first floor of the station’s building.
The storm has caused a quarter of all oil production in the Gulf of Mexico to grind to a halt, and it could cause gas prices to rise between 5 and 15 cents.
Meanwhile, former ethics chief Walter Shaub ripped Trump for promoting Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke’s new book in a tweet Sunday morning, instead pressing the president to support the American Red Cross.
Friday night proved to be a massive news dump night as Harvey came over Texas.
The fallout from the pardon of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio continued throughout Saturday with critics speaking out against the decision to pardon the octogenarian.
Multiple Republicans spoke out against the move, including Speaker Paul Ryan who said on Saturday he disagreed with Trump’s decision.
However, Arpaio was thrilled, even telling reporters he thought it was possible that the pardon was fake when he first received it.
Democrats continued to rip Trump’s decision though, and former U.S. Attorney Preet Bhara said Trump violated Department of Justice procedure with the pardon.
Homeland Security advisor Tom Bossert defended the timing of Trump’s pardon and said it had nothing to do with the fact that Hurricane Harvey was about to make landfall when he announced the pardon.
However, it appears Trump had wanted to take care of Arpaio for months — a report indicated Trump had asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions if the Justice Department could drop the case against Arpaio in the spring. He was advised against doing so, but planned to pardon Arpaio when he could.
Among the headlines was the fact that North Korea tested three ballistic missiles. While Pacific Command first said two of the missiles failed during the flight, the military walked that statement back Saturday morning and said two actually flew 250 kilometers before crashing.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson denied he and Trump misjudged Kim Jong Un after saying this past week that he was backing down after American diplomatic pressure.
The other headline from Friday — the departure of aide Sebastian Gorka from the White House — also continued to develop during the weekend.
Gorka said in an interview he plans to return to Breitbart now that he’s left the White House.
On the way out the door, Gorka told Trump he felt his interests were no longer being properly represented by his aides. Tillerson said those comments showed Gorka had a “lack of understanding” of Trump’s goals.
Tillerson also made headlines on the Sunday shows when he refused to answer if Trump speaks for American values. Instead, he only said, “the president speaks for himself.”
Overseas, one American service member is missing after a Blackhawk helicopter crashed off the coast of Yemen.
And, back at home, the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election continued as some DC lobbying firms received subpoenas.
While the hurricane was drenching Texas, Trump also found time to play hardball over NAFTA renegotiations. He said Canada and Mexico were being tough in negotiation so he wondered if he “may have to terminate” the deal. He also took a shot at Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.
That shot drew the ire of Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who took issue with Trump ripping Democrats while people were fighting for their lives in Houston.
Trump’s attitude behind closed doors also became public knowledge when it comes to trade policy — he told his chief of staff John Kelly what he really wants is tariffs, and no more half measues.
Speculation over the 2020 election didn’t stop for the storm either. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, himself two weeks removed from a crisis with the eyes of the nation on him, said he has no intention of running for president, but maybe that would change after he left office.
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich also shot down speculation that he’s thinking of running in 2020.
Former Vice President Joe Biden referred to the violence in Charlottesville when he wrote in an op-ed that America is “living through a battle” for its soul at the moment.
The ACLU of Virginia released a video showing a man in Charlottesville firing a shot at a counter-protester wielding a torch during that rally. No one was injured and the ACLU said the shooter had been arrested.
The mother of the woman who died in Charlottesville was set to take the spotlight at the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night. Heather Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, would present a social justice award at the show.
Charlottesville played a big role in the antifa protests of a white supremacist rally scheduled in Berkeley, Calif., Sunday. Antifa protesters were spotted beating down a known alt-right activist during the incident, which seemed to be getting out of control Sunday.
