Texas sets a new standard for disaster relief efforts

Houston is “open for business,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner at a press conference Thursday after completing an aerial tour of the flooding in Houston. Hurricane Harvey made landfall last Friday as a Category 4 storm with winds reaching up to 130 mph and displaced more than 32,000 people along the Texas Gulf Coast.

On August 23, Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency for 30 counties including mandatory evacuations for Brazoria, Calhoun, Jackson, Refugio, San Patricio, and Victoria counties. Three days later, the Texas governor added an additional 20 counties to that list.

Many are praising the state's recovery efforts for its organization following catastrophic flooding. Abbott activated the entire Texas National Guard which included 12,000 members to assist with ongoing rescue efforts. Civilians from around the country also joined rescue efforts, including Louisiana's Cajun Navy.

Today on "The Glenn Beck Radio Program" Bill O'Reilly  praised the state's response while criticizing media coverage and the progressives who politicized the disaster.

"Well, I think it was an organizational thing where the state and the city and the counties ... they didn't lose control of the process. They were on the scene visible. When you turned on your television set, you saw law enforcement, you saw a National Guard, you saw administrators," said O'Reilly. "And there wasn't a sense as there was in New Orleans that it was totally out of control. It was out of control with the rain. But other than that, the rescue efforts were coordinated. It seemed that there wasn't an opportunity for the bad guys."

According to the New York Times, the death toll is currently at 46.

To see more from Glenn, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “The Glenn Beck Radio Program” with Glenn Beck, Pat Gray, Stu Burguiere and Jeffy Fisher weekdays 9 a.m.–noon ET on TheBlaze Radio Network.