US President Donald Trump flew to Houston today to meet with victims of Hurricane Harvey and see the effects of the record-setting storm while he presses for a multi-billion dollar aid package.
Mr Trump, facing the first natural disaster of his administration, was joined by his wife Melania as he passed out food and hugged, kissed and played with children at Houston's NRG Centre, a 65,000sqm facility that is now the city's largest emergency shelter.
Mr Trump, who is making his second trip to the stricken state this week, asked Congress late last night for an initial $7.85bn for hurricane recovery efforts.
The request comes as Washington faces tough budget negotiations.
Mr Trump told reporters at the centre that his administration was moving fast to provide the financing for aid to the devastated region.
"We are signing a lot of documents to get money," he said.
The couple appeared relaxed as theyposed for photographs with volunteers and chatted with those relocated to the shelter alongside Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
"It has been a wonderful thing," Mr Trump said of his meetings with the children as he helped serve food to evacuees.
Mr Trump's visit came after a week of historic flooding in the area that killed at least 40 people, displaced more than one million and dumped as much as 127cm (50 inches) of rain in some areas.
The trip may have political implications for Mr Trump, who was criticised for not meeting with victims and not showing more empathy on his first trip to Texas on Tuesday.
Mr Trump stayed clear of the disaster zone earlier this week, saying he did not want to hamper rescue efforts.
Instead, he met with Cabinet members, state and local leaders and first responders in the state capital Austin and Corpus Christi, where Harvey first hit, focusing on the logistics of the government response.
In a letter to Congress yesterday, the Trump administration asked for a $7.85bn appropriation for response and initial recovery efforts.
White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert told reporters on Thursday that aid funding requests would come in stages as more became known about the impact of the storm.
