Senate

Graham praises hurricane efforts after Trump call

by John Bowden - 09/12/18 6:06 PM ET

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) on Wednesday praised federal efforts to prepare for Hurricane Florence following a phone call with President Trump.

Graham said in a statement that Trump called him and “asked if there was anything his Administration needed to do that was not currently being done for the people of South Carolina.”

“The President reinforced this is a dangerous storm, and everyone in evacuation areas should follow the advice of Governor McMaster to evacuate while there is still time,” Graham added.

“I told the President that South Carolinians appreciate his friendship, dedication, and concern.”

I just received a call from President @realdonaldtrump about #HurricaneFlorence.

He asked if there was anything his Administration needed to do that was not currently being done for the people of South Carolina.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 12, 2018

Graham, who has been a strong ally of Trump, issued the statement praising the Trump administration’s handling of the storm ahead of its expected landfall later this week on the east coast.

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Hurricane Florence, which has been downgraded to a category 3 storm, is expected to hit late Thursday or early Friday in the Carolinas, where an estimated 1.5 million people are under mandatory evacuation orders.

“My people just informed me that this is one of the worst storms to hit the East Coast in many years. Also, looking like a direct hit on North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Please be prepared, be careful and be SAFE!” Trump tweeted on Monday.

Vice President Pence is expected to head to areas under storm watch in Georgia on Thursday, where he will meet with Red Cross officials at their field office in Atlanta.

In a video Wednesday morning, the president assured Americans in the storm’s path that the federal government was “fully prepared” for Florence’s landfall.

The Trump administration has faced criticism over the past year for its handling of Hurricane Maria in 2017, which caused nearly 3,000 deaths on the island of Puerto Rico.

“We’re fully prepared, food, medical, everything you can imagine, we are ready. But despite that, bad things can happen when you’re talking about a storm this size. It’s called Mother Nature, you never know, but we know,” Trump said in the video released Wednesday.