WASHINGTON (AP) – Add Mother Nature to the pile of crises on President Joe Biden’s plate.
A month at work and focused on the coronavirus, Biden is seeing his disaster management skills tested after winter storms plunged Texas, Oklahoma and neighboring states into an unusual freeze that left millions of people shaking in homes that lost heat and energy, and in many houses, water.
At least 59 deaths in the United States have been attributed to the outbreak of off-season weather.
Biden took office on January 20, promising to face a series of ongoing crises, starting with the coronavirus pandemic and its spillover effects on the economy. He addressed systemic racism and climate change as top priorities. And now he is battling storms that have not only endangered Americans, but have also delayed the delivery and administration of millions of doses of vaccines against the coronavirus.
Biden said on Friday that he hopes to travel to Texas next week, but does not want his presence and the accompanying presidential party to distract him from recovery.
“They are working like hell to care for their parents,” said Biden of the Texas authorities. He said he would make a decision early next week about the trip.
Biden, who volunteered during the campaign as the experienced and empathetic candidate the nation needed right now, is working on several fronts to tackle the situation – and to avoid repeating the mistakes of his predecessors who were hit by inadequate or insensitive responses in times of disaster.
Part of the job of being president is to respond to the destruction left by earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters, or events like deadly mass shootings, or even acts of terrorism.
Some handled these situations better than others.
George W. Bush received praise for his leadership after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, but he stumbled during his government’s hesitant response to the humanitarian disaster in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast four years later.
Barack Obama said he should have anticipated the negative reaction he received for going to the golf course shortly after condemning the beheading of an American journalist kidnapped by Islamic militants in 2014. Obama was on vacation at Martha’s Vineyard at the time.
Donald Trump was criticized for throwing rolls of paper towels at a crowd of people in Puerto Rico who had suffered the blows of Hurricane Maria on the island in 2017. He defended the launch of the towels, saying people were “having fun”.
Bill Clinton, who became famous during the 1992 presidential campaign that “I feel your pain”, was a natural man to connect with disaster victims.
This week, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas showed how quickly a bad move during a crisis can become a public relations disaster for a politician.
Cruz was attacked for traveling to Mexico while his constituents suffered without power, heating and running water. His explanation – that his daughters pushed for escape because they were out of school – was particularly criticized. Cruz later said the trip was a mistake.
Biden tweeted about Texas and other affected states, while the White House issued numerous statements aimed at demonstrating that the federal government is in charge of the situation.
The president is receiving regular updates from his team and has declared states of emergency in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. He said on Friday that he will soon declare a major disaster in the state of Texas and that he has asked federal agencies to identify additional resources to deal with the suffering.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency also dispatched dozens of generators and supplies, including fuel, water, blankets and ready-to-eat meals, to the affected areas.
Biden spoke with the governors of the seven states most affected by the winter. He tweeted a photo of himself on the phone with Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas.
Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt, a staunch supporter of Trump, was quick to praise Biden for quick action in a disaster declaration.
After talking to Biden by phone earlier this week, Stitt specifically thanked the president for “taking the time to contact this afternoon and offer federal government assistance to Oklahoma residents. We received a very productive call and I look forward to working together to find solutions as we recover from this historic storm. “
Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, said Biden is “well prepared” to deal with the disaster because of his decades of service in the U.S. Senate and as a former vice president and because of “your genuine concern for people.”
“He has to show empathy right away,” Perry said in an interview. “It is important for a president to go to a place that has been attacked, but be careful with the footprint. He doesn’t want to make things worse. ”
Biden, if he decides to visit Texas next week, could also use the trip to emphasize that climate change is real and should not be ignored, and that the state could do things like winterize its power plants to be better prepared for future storms Said Perry.
But he must be careful not to do this reproachfully.
“We know that he cares about climate change and this is a way to convince people,” said Perry.
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Associated Press writer Sean Murphy of Oklahoma City contributed to this report.