As President Obama meets with Alabama families affected by deadly tornados that swept through the South earlier this week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is asking: What about us? The Republican, long a critic of the president, once again ripped the Obama administration Thursday. This time, he bashed Obama for not responding to an April 16 request for a declaration of emergency in the Lone Star State, where wildfires have destroyed nearly 2 million acres.
"You have to ask, 'Why are you taking care of Alabama and other states?'" said Perry. Texas officials asked the White House to make the declaration, which would have allocated federal funds to help the state deal with the crisis. "I know our letter didn't get lost in the mail," Perry added.
Two firefighters died in the Texas disaster, and 900 buildings have been destroyed. According to Linda Moon, spokeswoman for the Texas Forest Service, more than $60 million has been spent by the forest service and local departments to respond to the wildfires since Sept 1.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is reviewing Perry's request. But the governor did not shy away from expressing his frustration. "There is a point in time where you say, 'Hey, what's going on here?,'" Perry said. "They watch TV, they know what's going on here, they can recognize that there is going to be a request for assistance, a request for help."
Meanwhile, tornadoes in the South killed more than 300 people on Wednesday and Thursday. Alabama was the hardest hit, with at least 210 fatalities. Obama declared a state of emergency there, and ordered federal aid. The storms also left 34 people dead in Tennessee, 33 in Mississippi, 15 in Georgia, five in Virginia and one in Arkansas.
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