Thousands of south Louisiana residents remain stuck in shelters, living in hotels or staying in the spare bedrooms of family and friends after flooding ravaged their homes, creating a housing crunch that will bring back temporary housing units like those that dotted the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.
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GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump visited Baton Rouge on Friday, hugging victims and driving through some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods, where the entire contents of homes were piled on the curb.
In Baton Rouge, standing outside her flooded brick home, Kejuana Sibley said she hoped Obama’s visit would open the door to more federal aid. “I guarantee you, nobody on this block, none of these first responders, nobody gives a hoot about whether you’re a Democrat or Republican”. “What’s absolutely heart-wrenching to me as a mayor is to see my citizens’ lives laying on those streets in front of their houses”, he said.
During his vacation, Obama declared a state of emergency in Louisiana, spoke by phone with local officials and dispatched Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to visit the area.
Too little too late, Mona Gaspard said of Obamas visit.
Leslie Andermann Gallagher surveys the flood damage to her home on August 17, 2016, in Sorrento, Louisiana.
“This is my first home that I bought on my own”, said Marlette Sanders, standing in her empty home. We want him to be helpful and hope it didn’t turn into a mere photo op. It was a sentiment echoed by many in the area, many of whom have said they feel their plight has been ignored by the media.
“We got out there on that boat, but to get to the boat we have to get in the water, and I’m talking water over my head, swimming in the streets”, she said.
The numbers are staggering, according to the New Orleans Times Picayune. In 2005, a fly-over by a vacationing President George W. Bush became a symbol of official neglect for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
“We, you know have trucks and we’re constantly helping people in need with their move but this is just something sweeter”, said Johnathan Greer.
“One of the benefits of being five months short of leaving here is I don’t worry too much about politics”.
Obama declared Louisiana a federal disaster area more than a week ago, uncorking federal funding for temporary housing and housing fix, among other programs to help affected communities and businesses.
A storm that began August 12 dumped as much as 2 feet of water in some areas within 48 hours, causing widespread damage that Gov. John Bel Edwards says impacted more than 100,000 homes.
The White House on Monday pointed to praise for the federal government from the state’s Democratic governor and Republican lieutenant governor as evidence of an effective response. “We’re going to need a lot of help, a lot of prayers, and a lot of work to get back”. He said that he preferred Obama wait to visit, in order to “preserve resources”.
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Before he leaves this afternoon, the president is scheduled to meet with the family of Alton Sterling as well as the families of deceased and injured officers of the Baton Rouge Police Department and East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.
