CNN
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n GOP Sen. Ted Cruz was on a pre-planned vacation in Greece with his family when devastating floods hit central Texas<\/a>, and he sought to travel back \u201cas fast as humanly possible,\u201d his office said in a statement.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe Senator was already in the middle of preplanned family vacation travel overseas when the flooding occurred on July 4. Within hours, he spoke by phone with Governor (Greg) Abbott, Lt. Governor (Dan) Patrick, Texas Emergency Management Director Nim Kidd, and President (Donald) Trump, working to ensure that the maximum federal assets were available for search and rescue,\u201d Cruz\u2019s office said in a statement to CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cHe and his team worked closely with local officials and with families of missing girls throughout that time. He promptly booked a flight back home. Given the time difference, he left Athens on Sunday morning and was back in Texas that night. And he was in Kerrville on the ground early Monday morning,\u201d the statement continued.\n <\/p>\n \n A tourist in Athens told the Houston Chronicle<\/a> he spotted Cruz at about 6 p.m. in Athens, Greece \u2013 or about 11 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. in Kerrville \u2013 and snapped a photo, which was posted to social media. That was after Abbott issued a disaster declaration due to severe flooding that was believed to have left at least 24 dead<\/a> and many more missing.\n <\/p>\n \n The death toll has since risen to more than 100 people.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI get it, he\u2019s on vacation,\u201d said the tourist, Michael Rocchio, who the Chronicle reported is not a Texan and is openly critical of Cruz\u2019s political beliefs. \u201cBut after what happened, vacation or not, you should have been back on a plane on his way back to Texas to deal with everything that was going on with those poor kids in the floodplain.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Cruz has faced criticism previously for a vacation that came amid a natural disaster.\n <\/p>\n \n In 2021, the Texas Republican said it was \u201cobviously a mistake\u201d<\/a> to fly to Cancun, Mexico, as a winter disaster in his home state left millions without power or water.\n <\/p>\n