President Donald Trump criticized a local TV news reporter in Texas, calling her ‘evil’ for asking whether improved warning systems could have prevented some of the tragic deaths in the Texas floods.

The incident occurred shortly after Trump’s security briefing following his visit to witness the aftermath of the devastating floods in Kerrville, Texas, an area severely affected by the flooding.

Initially, Trump commended the efforts of the first responders and acknowledged the personal stories of tragedy they encountered. Even first lady Melania Trump made a rare public statement, displaying a bracelet given to her by Camp Mystic, where several young campers lost their lives.

The reporter, who identified herself as Marissa Armas of CBS News Texas, told Trump that ‘several families we’ve heard from are obviously upset because they say that those warnings, those alerts, didn’t go out in time, and they also say that people could have been saved. What do you say to those families?’

Trump began by hailing first responders before exploding at the question.

‘Well, I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances. This was, I guess Kristi [Noem] said a one in 500, one in 1,000 years. And I just have admiration for the job that everybody did. There’s just admiration,’ Trump said.

Then he ripped his questioner. ‘Only a bad person would ask a question like that, to be honest with you. I don’t know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that,’ Trump scolded.

‘I think this has been heroism. This has been incredible. Really, the job you’ve all done. It’s easy to sit back and say, “Oh, what could have happened here, there. You know, we could have done something differently.” This was a thing that says – never happened before.

‘I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve gone to some real bad ones. I’ve never seen anything like this,’ Trump concluded.

Then, apparently directing comments to first responders, Trump said: ‘So I  admire you, and I consider you heroes and heroine and I think you’ve done an amazing job.’

Trump appeared to either be anticipating tough questions or sought to ward them off. When he first said he would take questions, he asked: ‘Is the press going to be respectful of this event, this horrible event, this horrible tragedy?’ Then came the question from Armas about the families.

Armas’ Instagram account indicates she has been in Kerrville for seven days reporting on the storm. Clips show her standing in front of rubble and grabbing detritus of people who were impacted or perished in the flood. 

Trump has been popping off at reporters at other events in recent days. On Monday, he tore into a reporter who asked him about Jeffrey Epstein just hours after the Justice Department released a new document seeking about the convicted sex offender.

‘Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years,’ Trump exploded.

He similarly erupted at people asking about the effectiveness of the air strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Trump said the strikes ‘obliterated’ the facilities and said the US bomber pilots were ‘maligned and treated very bad, demeaned by fake news.’

Initial reporting indicates that the National Weather Service was able to issue flood alert warnings hours before the massive floods hit, but the most urgent warnings came after midnight.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has asked an inspector general to conduct a review of staff shortages at the NWS and whether they contributed in any way. Reports since the tragic floods have inquired whether procedures and personnel that transmit emergency could be improved, and whether flood alert systems might have saved lives when the Guadalupe River suddenly rose.

One report indicated that state’s Division of Emergency Management denied a request by Kerr County for $1 million to improve its flood warning system. The floods took the lives of at least 95 people including 27 at a historic girls summer camp.

Trump during his Friday event called it a 100 year flood as well as the kind that comes every 1,000 years.

At one point he compared it to a tidal wave.

‘This is like a giant, giant wave in the Pacific Ocean, that the best surfers in the world would be afraid to surf,’ Trump said.