The governor of Louisiana said Sunday that Donald Trump’s trip to his state was helpful in getting the country’s attention on the devastating flooding around Baton Rouge.
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The Democratic governor of the state, John Bel Edwards, though, has said he has no problem with the president not having visited or the federal response. The Louisiana National Guard has been conducting flood response and recovery missions, as directed by Gov. John Bel Edwards, since August 12.
Trump and vice presidential running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence traveled to the state capital Baton Rouge separately.
“I also appreciated the good phone call, the conversation that I had with Gov. Pence, who was honest and genuine when he called, and we spoke for a long time on Friday morning about their desire to be helpful”, Edwards said.
Trump told reporters he agreed with some people in Louisiana who have urged President Barack Obama to cut short a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard in New England to visit and view the flood devastation.
He said “family after family” told him the same tale: “They heard the warnings, and thought – it won’t happen to me”. Trump’s new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway suggested that Trump’s visit was part of a larger effort, like his speech on Thursday, to pivot to a more presidential phase.
Obama has come under fire in recent days for not visiting flood-ravaged Louisiana. It’s past time for the president to pay a personal visit, showing his solidarity with suffering Americans.
FEMA has approved more than $55 million in aid so far and some 106,000 Louisiana residents have registered for emergency assistance after the record floods, which killed at least 13 and damaged more than 60,000 homes. At a Baptist church later, a woman screamed “We knew you would be here for us!” as he and Pence sat down with volunteers. Gen. Glenn H. Curtis, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said in the news release.
Donald Trump toured the flood-stricken regions of Louisiana on Friday. “The very best way this team can help is to make sure Louisianans have the resources they need”.
He has been receiving updates from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, who both have visited Louisiana.
In the video, the president criticizes former President George W. Bush in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, saying he “only saw the people from a window of an airplane instead of down here on the ground trying to provide comfort and aide”.
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“If we go by and this house has waterline up to the roof line, no one’s been there, there’s no trash piled out by the road, we want to check that house to see if anyone inside that, maybe, perished”, said Clint Sistrunk, a firefighter.
