President Barack Obama speaks Tuesday with Quincy Snowden as he tours Castle Place, a flood-damaged area of Baton Rouge, La.
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The August floods are responsible for the deaths of 13 people and damage to more than 60,000 homes.
The manufactured housing units will be available for people who don’t live in a designated flood plain to set up in their yards as they fix houses.
The White House released a statement the afternoon of August 19, announcing Obama’s trip and saying, “The President is mindful of the impact that his travel has on first responders and wants to ensure that his presence does not interfere with ongoing recovery efforts”. Once these transports arrive in Baton Rouge, local ministries and community leaders will distribute the items directly to victims and their families.
The flooding has created political headache for the White House as critics blasted Obama for being too slow to visit the state. Trump in particular expressed his outrage about the president’s delay, telling FOX News, “Tuesday’s too late”.
Mr Obama had received updates on the flooding from US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, both of whom went to Louisiana.
It seems the memory of the president’s two weeks of vacation on the MA island of Martha’s Vineyard wouldn’t last long as expected. But the editorial board praised his decision to come Tuesday.
Federal and Louisiana authorities say more than 26,000 people have filed flood insurance claims for flooding damage.
On Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest defended the administration’s response. He said the mobile homes meet higher regulatory standards, are already owned by FEMA and are manufactured by one company rather than the myriad of vendors that built the travel trailers.
“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”. And local councils are running soup kitchens to feed thousands of people each day, the release said.
Sugarcane specialist Kenneth Gravois (GRAV-wah) of Louisiana State University says farmers have been able to plant only 15 to 20 percent of their expected acreage – and need to finish planting and start harvesting, since sugar mills are expected to begin grinding in a month. “I know how resilient the people of Louisiana are and I know that you will rebuild again”.
PHOTO ABOVE: Bruce Simmons (black shirt), a sergeant with the Baton Rouge Sheriff’s department, talks with a Billy Graham Rapid Response chaplain (blue shirt) while his wife, Pamela, hugs a Samaritan’s Purse volunteer (orange shirt). The gunman, Gavin Long, was shot dead at the scene.
That’s why the active engagement of Obama’s potential successors in assessing Louisiana’s disaster needs is critical.
Samaritan’s Purse, which is also on site, reported that more than 100 volunteers – nearly half of them first-timers – have already put in many hours clearing debris and salvaging valuables from homes throughout the Baton Rouge area, which officials have described as “Katrina-like”, referring to 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
The disaster brought back painful memories of Hurricane Katrina, which 11 years ago inundated nearby New Orleans.
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Kunzelman contributed to this story from Denham Springs.
