Trump to keep eye on Hurricane Harvey from Camp David

Trump to keep eye on Hurricane Harvey from Camp David

President Donald Trump signed a disaster proclamation from the official presidential retreat at Camp David in response to the Category 4 storm Hurricane Harvey.
Trump said in a tweet early this afternoon that he 'just arrived at Camp David, where I am monitoring the path and doings of Hurricane Harvey (as it strengthens to a Class 3). 125 MPH winds!'
Later in the evening, as the hurricane's damage escalated, he tweeted that he had signed the 'Disaster Proclamation'. 
'At the request of the Governor of Texas, I have signed the Disaster Proclamation, which unleashes the full force of government help!' the president wrote.
The president and first lady departed this afternoon for the country retreat near Thurmont, Maryland, a location that a White House official stressed is just 45 minutes away from Washington.
'It is just as well-resourced as the White House, so he’ll have access to anybody, all the communications means that he might need,' Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert told reporters during a televised briefing. 'So it's not a trip. I wouldn't characterize it as a trip.' 
It's Trump's third time visiting the naval support facility visit that functions as a private retreat for sitting presidents. He's joined on the weekend excursion by son Barron, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and grandchildren Arabella, Theodore and Joseph, as well as the first lady.

The White House insisted Friday that the administration is prepared for the storm that is bearing down on Texas and that Trump can monitor the storm from Camp David just as well as he could from the White House.
'For those of you in America thinking Camp David is far away, it’s right up the road,' Bossert explained. 
Trump's homeland security adviser rejected a comparison of the weather event that will also affect New Orleans to Hurricane Katrina, which became a blight of President George W. Bush's presidency, and declared that 'every disaster is different.'
Bossert also noted that the 2005 storm that hit 12 years ago this week was a 'staggering event that took place in just the perfect condition.'
'What we've done has gotten a lot better as a government,' the White House official who worked at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at the time of Katrina said. 
Vice President Mike Pence is staying behind to keep tabs on the situation.
He got a briefing this afternoon, according a tweet sent from his account as Trump was arriving at Camp David.
'Briefed by @TomBossert45 on the latest #HurricaneHarvey developments. @POTUS' top priority is the safety of the public & first responders,' he said alongside a photo of himself and Bossert.
Earlier in the afternoon Pence said that the storm 'continues to strengthen.'
'Our prayers for safety are with those in the path of the storm,' he said.

As Trump was leaving, he sent out a tweet urging people in the storm's path to follow instructions.
'I encourage everyone in the path of #HurricaneHarvey to heed the advice & orders of their local and state officials,' Trump said.
The White House sent out a picture of him conferring with Bossert and Chief of Staff John Kelly in the Oval Office around the same time.
A statement that accompanied the picture said Trump 'continues to closely monitor Hurricane Harvey and the preparedness and response efforts of State, local, and Federal officials.'
Before leaving the White House, it said, Trump received a briefing from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke, Bossert and Kelly.
He also spoke to Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and John Bel Edwards of Louisiana 'and committed to providing assistance as appropriate.' 

'This storm will likely be very destructive for several days. The President encourages people in the path of this dangerous storm to heed the advice and orders of their local and State officials,' it said. 'Those who ignore evacuation orders could be putting both themselves and first responders in danger.' 
Abbott has warned that Hurricane Harvey will be 'a major disaster'.
Texas is bracing for catastrophic flooding, power outages, winds up to 130 mph and 35+ inches of rain on top of storm surges up to 12 feet.
The storm was upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane on Friday afternoon, with winds of 120 mph.
Harvey is on course to make landfall as the strongest storm since the devastating Katrina 12 years ago, triggering 'catastrophic' floods in an area that processes some seven million barrels of oil a day in what could prove a major new test for Trump's administration.
'What you don’t know and what nobody else knows right now is the magnitude of flooding that will be coming,' Abbott said in a