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GOP Senator Warns Trump: ‘Don’t Make Same Mistake Bush Made With Katrina’

Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
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As Hurricane Harvey bores down on the Gulf Coast of Texas, a Republican senator is warning President Trump not to make the same mistakes President George W. Bush did following Hurricane Katrina.

“@realdonaldtrump #hurricane keep on top of hurricane Harvey dont mke [sic] same mistake Pres Bush made w Katrina,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote to Trump on Twitter.

Hurricane Harvey is expected to make landfall near Corpus Christi, Tex. late Friday or early Saturday. Forecasters say that winds will exceed 111 mph, making it a Category 3 storm.

Once it hits the coast, Harvey is expected to hover for several days over the southeast part of Texas, a heavily populated area that includes Houston. Up to 35 inches of rain is expected from the storm, causing concerns of widespread flooding. (RELATED: Expected Texas Hurricane Presents Major Stress Test For Trump)

Grassley’s tweet comes as Trump has made no public remarks about the planned response to Harvey.

Federal Emergency Management Agency director Brock Long has said that the White House is “fully engaged” in storm preparation.

Trump has received warning from other quarters. Matt Drudge, the conservative web proprietor, warned Trump on Thursday that Harvey poses Trump’s “first serious crisis.”

“It’s about to get real,” Drudge said on Twitter.

The U.S. has been spared from any major hurricane strikes for nearly 12 years, when Hurricane Wilma struck Florida in Oct. 2005, killing 62 people.

Two months earlier, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the coast of Louisiana, including New Orleans. The Category 5 storm and the flooding that followed left between 1,200 and 1,800 people dead across the state.

Bush received heavy criticism for failing to prepare in advance for the tempest.

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