President Donald Trump met with victims' families and surveyed the damage of catastrophic floods that struck the state one week ago.

The president has defended his administration's response to the fatal flooding amid criticism that federal assistance could have been provided more quickly.

State and local officials are calling out federal forecasters amid deadly flooding in the Texas Hill Country over the extended Fourth of July weekend. The criticism comes, as funding cuts and staff shortages plague the National Weather Service and other emergency management agencies nationwide.

Q: Is it true that if President Donald Trump hadn’t defunded the National Weather Service, the death toll in the Texas flooding would have been far lower or nonexistent? A: The Trump administration did not defund the NWS but did reduce the staff by 600 people.

President Donald Trump on Friday toured the devastation from catastrophic flooding in Texas and lauded local officials amid mounting criticism that they failed to warn residents fast enough that a deadly wall of water was coming their way.

Three House Democrats have expressed concern about the government’s preparedness for future flood disasters and extreme weather events, and are asking the NOAA and Army Corps of Engineers to

Flooding has been at the top of Texans’ minds this week, but this is not the first time that the need for flood-related measures has come up among local officials.

Flooding is one of the most destructive natural disasters and many American homeowners remain without flood-specific coverage, leaving them without coverage for flood-related damages.

For years, employees say, they've had to do more with less. But the ability to fill in the gaps became strained to the breaking point when the Trump administration began pushing new staffing cuts.

The White House says the president will visit the state emergency operations center to meet with first responders and relatives of flood victims.