President Joe Biden told The Houston Chronicle on Tuesday that federal officials had not been able to get in touch with Texas state leaders for days – leading to a delayed distribution of emergency-relief supplies in the wake of Hurricane Beryl.

The president told The Chronicle he had been trying to “track down” the governor to start the process of requesting aid. “I’ve been trying to track down the governor to see – I don’t have the authority to do that without a specific request from the governor,” Biden told the paper.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has been in Asia for the past several days, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has assumed the role of acting governor during the state’s response to the storm in his absence. The White House told the paper that officials have tried to reach Patrick and Abbott “multiple times.”