Donald Trump signed an executive order just days before Hurricane Harvey that scrapped many of the flood protections introduced by Barack Obama.

Harvey has caused huge damage in Texas as 30 inches of rain in less than 48 hours resulted in massive flooding.

The current US President, however, has abolished a number of flood standards in an attempt to get infrastructure projects approved more quickly. The Federal Flood Risk Management Standard is among those to have been rolled back.

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In 2015, Mr Obama introduced measures that made it harder to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure in areas that were susceptible to flooding. Plans for such projects would legally have to take into account the impact of climate change and be built to withstand future changes.

While the new regulations had not yet come into effect, they have now been scrapped entirely after Mr Trump decided they were too likely to slow down plans for new infrastructure.

Announcing the decision earlier in August, the billionaire businessman said: “We're going to get infrastructure built quickly, inexpensively, relatively speaking, and the permitting process will go very, very quickly."

“It’s going to be a very streamlined process, and by the way, if it doesn’t meet environmental safeguards, we’re not going to approve it.”

However, some of those safeguards have now been removed. The order also introduces a two-year time limit for permission to be granted for major infrastructure projects, in which Mr Trump has pledged to invest $1 trillion.

The move was praised by business groups but strongly opposed by environmentalists.

Shape Created with Sketch. The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Show all 19 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey 1/19 A tattered U.S. flag damaged in Hurricane Harvey, flies in Conroe, Texas Reuters 2/19 Lisa Rehr holds her four-year old son Maximus, after they lost their home to Hurricane Harvey, as they await to be evacuated with their belongings from Rockport, Texas Reuters 3/19 People line up for food as others rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center AP Photo/LM Otero 4/19 Volunteers with The American Red Cross register evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center Reuters/Nick Oxford 5/19 Soldiers with the Texas Army National Guard help the residents of Cyprus Creek Reuters 6/19 Residents wade through floodwater Reuters/Nick Oxford 7/19 Residents walk along the flooded roadway of Texas 249 as they evacuate their adjacent neighborhoods EPA 8/19 A man floats past a truck submerged on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday AP 9/19 People are rescued by airboat as they evacuate from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in Dickinson, Texas Reuters 10/19 James Archiable carries his bike through the flooded intersection at Taylor and Usenet near downtown Houston, Texas EPA 11/19 A massive sinkhole opened up on a motorway in Rosenburg, a city 25 miles southwest of Houston, Texas Rosenberg Police 12/19 People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in an armored police mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle in Dickinson, Texas Reuters 13/19 People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey on a boat in Dickinson, Texas Reuters 14/19 Evacuees are airlifted in a US Coast Guard helicopter after flooding due to Hurricane Harvey inundated neighborhoods in Houston, Texas Reuters 15/19 Evacuees leave a US Coast Guard helicopter after being rescued from flooding due to Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas Reuters 16/19 Residents look on at a submerged motorway during a break in the rain in Houston, Texas EPA 17/19 People photograph the submerged motorway interchange EPA 18/19 Debris lies on the ground after a building was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in Aransas Pass, Texas AP 19/19 Dominic Dominguez searches for his boat in a boat storage facility that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey near Rockport, Texas EPA 1/19 A tattered U.S. flag damaged in Hurricane Harvey, flies in Conroe, Texas Reuters 2/19 Lisa Rehr holds her four-year old son Maximus, after they lost their home to Hurricane Harvey, as they await to be evacuated with their belongings from Rockport, Texas Reuters 3/19 People line up for food as others rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center AP Photo/LM Otero 4/19 Volunteers with The American Red Cross register evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center Reuters/Nick Oxford 5/19 Soldiers with the Texas Army National Guard help the residents of Cyprus Creek Reuters 6/19 Residents wade through floodwater Reuters/Nick Oxford 7/19 Residents walk along the flooded roadway of Texas 249 as they evacuate their adjacent neighborhoods EPA 8/19 A man floats past a truck submerged on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday AP 9/19 People are rescued by airboat as they evacuate from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in Dickinson, Texas Reuters 10/19 James Archiable carries his bike through the flooded intersection at Taylor and Usenet near downtown Houston, Texas EPA 11/19 A massive sinkhole opened up on a motorway in Rosenburg, a city 25 miles southwest of Houston, Texas Rosenberg Police 12/19 People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in an armored police mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle in Dickinson, Texas Reuters 13/19 People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey on a boat in Dickinson, Texas Reuters 14/19 Evacuees are airlifted in a US Coast Guard helicopter after flooding due to Hurricane Harvey inundated neighborhoods in Houston, Texas Reuters 15/19 Evacuees leave a US Coast Guard helicopter after being rescued from flooding due to Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas Reuters 16/19 Residents look on at a submerged motorway during a break in the rain in Houston, Texas EPA 17/19 People photograph the submerged motorway interchange EPA 18/19 Debris lies on the ground after a building was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in Aransas Pass, Texas AP 19/19 Dominic Dominguez searches for his boat in a boat storage facility that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey near Rockport, Texas EPA

Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists warned even before the executive order was issued that it would "put vital infrastructure that communities depend on at greater risk of flooding".

"It will lead to more costly and damaging consequences of these floods," she told The Independent, "And frankly, it's a waste of taxpayer dollars if money is invested in projects that will just get washed away."

She added: "Even as we're seeing flood risk growing in many places around the country – due to sea level rise, heavy rainfall, and other types of factors – it just flies in the face of common sense to turn back progress on greater flood prevention that communities depend on."

Hurricane Harvey has caused devastating flooding in Texas. At least five people have been reported dead and as many as 2,000 had to be rescued after the area received a year’s rainfall within the space a week.

“The breadth and intensity of this rainfall are beyond anything experienced before,” the US National Weather Service said on Twitter. “Catastrophic flooding is now underway and expected to continue for days.”

Returning to the topic of storm Harvey, Ms Cleetus said: "It would be a serious mistake to rebuild without taking account of future flood risks in the wake of terrible tragedies such as Texas is currently experiencing with Hurricane Harvey."

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