Texas

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Texas is receiving federal aid for Hurricane Beryl later than needed because state leaders were slow to request an official disaster declaration from the White House, President Joe Biden told the Houston Chronicle Tuesday.

Patrick wrote on social media that the president was "falsely accusing" him of being unreachable, while an Abbott spokesperson called Biden’s comments “a complete lie.”

Rafael Lemaitre, a former national director of public affairs for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Texas should have made its disaster appeal sooner, as widespread reports of power outages, deaths and property damage were "more than sufficient" to prompt the request.

The major disaster declaration from Biden allows federal officials to deploy a wide range of aid, including debris removal services, emergency supplies and repairing damaged infrastructure.

Politics have also regularly infused the response to past Texas storms, most recently when then-Land Commissioner George P. Bush, a Republican, feuded with then-Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, over Hurricane Harvey aid.

The political sparring came as millions of Texans remained without power as temperatures climbed into the 90s in parts of the state, one day after Beryl’s deadly winds and rain caused widespread damage.

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