The president praised the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its efforts coordinating a federal response, which he said has already reached $127 million in assistance.
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Before departing Baton Rouge, the president will meet with the family of Alton Sterling, who was shot and killed by a police officer there in July, as well as with the families of local law enforcement officers who were killed and injured by a gunman later that same month.
President Barack Obama visited the state of Louisiana on Tuesday, surveying the damage caused by recent flooding that left 13 people dead and thousands of people displaced.
Described as the worst disaster since Superstorm Sandy in 2012, a storm that started August 12 dumped as much as 2 feet of rain over two days in some areas and was blamed for 13 deaths.
“As broadcasters, we have a responsibility to help people of the areas we serve”, said Sandy Breland, Raycom Media Group Vice President. “It was the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen”, she said.
Obama has been lampooned for not cutting short a two-week vacation on Martha’s Vineyard to visit the Gulf Coast state.
So, he spent the previous week vacationing while Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump visited the state to provide supplies.
Although the ministry reported that more than 250 volunteers have answered the call to assist the residents of Louisiana, it said many more are needed to help during the long cleanup ahead.
A preliminary analysis for the nine parishes within the Baton Rouge metropolitan area issued by the local Chamber of Commerce (BRAC) on August 19 indicates that the capital region’s area of flood impact covers more than 1,000 square miles. “Too little, too late!” He said that he wanted to allow first responders to be allowed to conduct their searches and that the president was welcome to visit as he saw fit.
As you’re likely aware, record flooding has devastated Baton Rouge.
Pastor Sammie D. Simmons said it’s remembering disasters like our historic flood in October, and the effects of Hurricane Hugo, that spurred his community to come together. In 2005, then-President George W. Bush was faulted by critics for flying over but not touching down in Louisiana in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a decision he years later described as a mistake.
He said that he had no reason to politicize it, being only five months away from leaving office.
Highland Ridge, La., resident Kimberly Moore shares her concerns with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, center, and Youngsville Mayor Ken Ritter, right, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016.
“The water has since subsided but many people, including friends and family to me, have lost everything”.
But while residents such as Baton Rouge’s Marie Sibley pleaded to Obama “to just help us”, others like Albany’s Catherine Murphy were less optimistic. His killing sparked major protests across the country.
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Information for this article was contributed by Kevin Freking, Kathleen Hennessey, Rebecca Santana and Melinda Deslatte of The Associated Press; by Campbell Robertson and Michael D. Shear and Alan Blinder of The New York Times; and by Ashley Cusick and Greg Jaffe of The Washington Post.
