(CNN)Eager to demonstrate leadership amid the worst natural disaster of his tenure, President Donald Trump arrived Tuesday to meet with local, state and federal officials in Austin and Corpus Christi, Texas, to survey disaster relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

During both stops, Trump remarked on the unprecedented nature of the storm -- which has left parts of Houston and southeastern Texas under several feet of water -- and talked up recovery efforts being led by state and federal officials.

In Corpus Christi, Trump said he hoped the disaster response efforts in the wake of the hurricane would become a model for future natural disaster relief efforts.

"We want to do it better than ever before. We want to be looked at five years, 10 years from now, as this is the way to do it," Trump said, adding the storm was "of epic proportion."