The lives of many people “have been upended by this flood”.
Advertisement
In 2012, Obama and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney wasted no time in heading to Louisiana to see the damage from Hurricane Isaac.
“One of the benefits of being five months short of leaving here is that I don’t worry too much about politics”, Obama said.
U.S. President Barack Obama consoles a woman after touring her flood-damaged home in Zachary, Louisiana, U.S., August 23, 2016. “I think it was important that he was going to be here, and so much of the focus on the disaster and its response is on first responders, and these are families of first responders”.
Spears, who is from Kentwood, Louisiana, tweeted out links Tuesday to a fundraising site offering $10 raffle tickets to win an outfit from her upcoming performance on Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards or win a trip to NY to see her at the show in person.
“The president has been on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard and has faced some criticism for not visiting Louisiana”. But the editorial board praised his decision to come Tuesday.
Mr. Obama was speaking in East Baton Rouge Parish as he toured flood damage in Louisiana. It’s past time for the president to pay a personal visit, showing his solidarity with suffering Americans’.
“Because it helped to shine a spotlight on Louisiana and on the dire situation that we have here, it was helpful”, said John Bel Edwards, the state’s Democratic governor.
“I’d refer you to local officials in Louisiana who have said very positive things about the federal response”, said John Earnest, the White House Press Secretary.
During his visit to south Louisiana, President Barack Obama promised that the victims of the historic flooding will not be forgotten.
Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic opponent, said Monday that she too plans a trip to the flood site.
The state is urging people to help those with damage muck out their homes.
“To have the President come, it means a lot to show that he cares and the Federal Government cares about what we are going through”, she said.
Obama arrived Tuesday morning in Baton Rouge and quickly rejected the criticism levied against him. Obama also met with the families of officers killed or injured almost two weeks later by a gunman, apparently in response to Sterling’s killing, the White House said.
The meeting, which lasted a little more than 20 minutes and happened at a firehouse near a Baton Rouge airport, also took place with the family of Alton Sterling, who was fatally shot by police officers in the city last month. Some have even called it Obama’s “Katrina moment”.
Residents such as Denham Springs’ Todd Krichel are still grappling with the scale of the destruction. “This is, how do you make sure a month from now, three months from now, six months from now, people still are getting the help that they need”, Obama said. “It just, all my friends, family all our friends on this street, look at it”. Unwilling and unable to outline an effective federal response or propose an infrastructure program to prevent the next disaster, Obama told Flint residents to rely on charities and philanthropists.
He says the government will keep helping until people are back in their homes and their lives are rebuilt.
Shelton, the mayor of Central, a suburb of Baton Rouge that is one of the hardest-hit communities from the catastrophic flooding.
“FEMA is doing great so far, apparently, ” said Pearson Cross, a political scientist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. I ain’t asking for help from the government.
Advertisement
Obama said FEMA has enough funding to cover the cost of aid being sent to Louisiana.
