President Obama will visit Louisiana on Tuesday in the wake of severe flooding in the state, the White House has announced.
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It’s been labeled “the worst USA disaster since Hurricane Sandy”, yet many are accusing the mainstream media of providing too little coverage of the catastrophic flooding across Louisiana.
US President Barack Obama meanwhile announced he is headed to Louisiana on Tuesday, after days of criticism from some in the southern state for not visiting.
When a woman thanked him for coming, rather than playing golf like the president has been doing during his New England vacation, Trump replied: “Somebody is, somebody is that shouldn’t be”.
The catastrophic flooding has left at least a dozen dead and thousands more without their homes.
Obama has received regular updates about the flooding and the federal response during his vacation, officials said.
The White House said Obama is “mindful” of the impact that his visit will have for “first responders and wants to ensure that his presence does not interfere with ongoing recovery efforts”. But we don’t see that as a factor now that flood waters are subsiding, even if at an agonizing pace.
Twenty parishes in the state were declared major disaster areas last weekend, a declaration that makes them eligible for federal funding. The editorial called for the president to visit Louisiana to show his “solidarity with suffering Americans”.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards’ office said Trump had not called to discuss plans for his visit, but that the NY businessman was welcome to volunteer or make a sizable donation towards helping victims. The office of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, however, said Trump had not called to discuss plans.
“So while the president is welcome to visit, I would just as soon he give us another a week or two, get back to a greater sense of normalcy here”, he said.
Trump and Pence met with disaster relief volunteers, toured damaged structures, met an elderly couple who said they had to climb to the roof of their home to escape floodwaters, and joined a short briefing with emergency officials.
One man who was affected by the flood, Jeff Nolan from Denham Springs, Louisiana, said it meant a lot for Trump to visit Louisiana. And she said the state’s relief effort “can’t afford any distractions”.
Trump’s own visit was a departure for the candidate, who has largely avoided the kind of unscripted, intimate interactions that power most candidates’ early primary campaigns.
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“Nobody understands how bad it is”, Trump told reporters, after briefly helping unload a truck of supplies while cameras captured the moment.
