Hurricane Harvey has caused at least 30 confirmed and suspected deaths in Houston, Texas and the surrounding areas, local officials have reported.

The Houston Police Department report that 3,500 people have been rescued from flooded areas, and United States President Donald Trump has visited the recovery effort in Corpus Christi, around 30 miles from the most severely affected areas.

An image, taken by David J. Phillip for the Associated Press, has become the central focus of a gender debate/meme war in the aftermath.

The image depicts Houston Police SWAT officer Daryl Hudeck carrying Catherine Pham and her 13-month-old son Aiden having rescued them from their flooded home on 27 August 2017.

Houston Police SWAT officer Daryl Hudeck carries Catherine Pham and her 13-month-old son Aiden after rescuing them from their home surrounded by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey Sunday, 27 August 2017, in Houston. The remnants of Hurricane Harvey sent devastating floods pouring into Houston Sunday as rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground. (Picture: AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

The image was tweeted by a self-described columnist for TheBlaze called Matt Walsh who has 38,671 followers on the platform.

His tagline on the multiplatform network reads (just so you know what you're dealing with):

Christian columnist and political incendiary Matt Walsh is an extremist — if truth is extreme.

The platform is perhaps best known internationally for hosting alt-right controversialist Tomi Lahren's show, until the she was suspended without pay and eventually fired by owner Glenn Beck after she aired pro-choice abortion views on The View.

Walsh tweeted:

Hundreds of men have also been rescued by officials in the area, so most people were at a loss as to why he tried to align disaster relief with a sexist narrative of gender and strength.

Twitter has responded to this bigotry the only way it knows how, by mocking it: