By Steve Holland and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday he was ready to declare a major disaster in storm-slammed Texas as soon as the declaration hits his desk, and that he would travel to the state as long as he was not a burden to local authorities.
Millions of residents in the state are struggling with power outages after a major winter storm.
“As I said when I ran, I’m going to be a president for all Americans,” said Biden, who was defeated last fall in Texas by former President Donald Trump.
“If I can do it without creating a burden for folks, I plan on going,” he added. The visit is being planned for next week.
President Biden has also asked his team to expedite the request about the disaster declaration, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
Biden will also have a call with the acting administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) later on Friday, Psaki added.
The White House has also been in touch with mayors and county officials in the state to make sure they were connected to FEMA and have access to resources within the federal government, an administration official said separately.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Nandita Bose, Editing by Doina Chiacu and Grant McCool)
