"I've never seen anything like this. (…) I've seen many hurricanes, tornadoes, and I've never seen anything like that. That's a terrible thing," said the president at a roundtable discussion with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and local officials.

His visit to Kerr County, the hardest hit by the disaster and where most of the fatalities have been found, comes as questions are growing about local authorities’ response to the flooding and the role that a flawed warning system played in the tragedy.

Trump initially focused on praising state and local officials, saying they did an “incredible job” and acted “like professionals.”

First lady Melania Trump also participated in the visit and offered her condolences to the families of those killed: “As we mourn this unthinkable tragedy, we take comfort in knowing that God has welcomed these beautiful little girls back into our lives.” At least 27 girls and young women from a Christian camp died in the floods.

The disaster, which was triggered by heavy rains that fell between July 3 and 4, left more than 161 missing, at least 120 dead and miles of destruction in the Hill Country region, outside of San Antonio.

Rejection of criticism of authorities' response and the warning system

Trump praised this Friday the response of the authorities to the floods in Texas and rejected any criticism of the system to alert the population about flooding due to rising rivers, which has been criticized for its operation.

"I think everyone did an incredible job given the circumstances. I think (Secretary of Homeland Security) Kristi (Noem) has said it; this is something that happens every 500 or 1,000 years. I just admire the work that everyone did. I have nothing but admiration, "Trump said during a roundtable discussion in Kerr County, the hardest hit county.

Trump was responding to a CBS reporter who asked him if he had anything to say to the families who have lost loved ones and homes and who have protested that alerts about the Guadalupe River's rising waters were not issued in time.

"Only a very evil person would ask a question like that," the Republican leader replied.

"It's easy to sit back and say 'what could have happened here?' and wonder if we could have done anything differently. This was something that never happened before and nobody's seen anything like it," insisted the president, who praised the "unity and competence" of the search and rescue teams at the local, state and federal levels.

The White House already defended this week the institutional response to the floods that affected south-central Texas last week and rejected any questioning of the mobile phone alert system.