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

Kristi Noem detailed how the federal government deployed resources and funds to Texas flood victims, signaling fundamental changes to FEMA under the Trump administration.

"It’s hard to believe the devastation," Trump said. "Trees that are 100 years old just ripped out of the ground. I've never seen anything like this, and I've seen a lot of bad ones."