While some have criticized Obama’s decision, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday he is “not complaining in any way about our federal partnership”.
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State officials say 6,000 people remain in shelters, down from more than 11,000 earlier in the week.
With an estimated 40,000 homes damaged by deadly flooding, Louisiana could be looking at its biggest housing crunch since the miserable, bumbling aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago. “We continue to work closely with our state partner agencies making the most of opportunities to leverage resources and manpower to keep Louisiana citizens safe and maintain order”.
More than 3,650 Louisiana Guardsmen are taking part in emergency flood response efforts, including evacuations, search-and-rescue operations, sling-load missions, engineering missions, commodities distribution and security and shelter support, officials said.
President Barack Obama has been called on by Republicans and some in Louisiana to cut short his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard to visit the city. As of Thursday, there were no announced plans for the President to arrive nor was Obama planning to address the flooding in an in-person statement.
At least 70,000 people have registered for flooding assistance from the federal government.
Those with flood insurance will be in a much better place to begin rebuilding – but there won’t be many of them.
The Acadian Thruway covered in floodwaters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, August 12, 2016. It started flooding the very next day, water ultimately rising above three feet inside his home. He said he was told he didn’t need it.
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Baton Rouge was pounded with more than 19 inches of rain during those same 15 hours.
