President Obama visits Louisiana and pledges support for flood victims

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On Tuesday, President Barack Obama toured the state of Louisiana after a devastating flood despite criticism that his visit has come too late.

“We are heartbroken by the loss of life,” the president said at a press conference in Baton Rouge. “I think anybody who can see just the streets, much less the inside of the homes here, people’s lives have been upended by this flood.”

The flooding has caused more than 106,000 people to register for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with over 60,000 homes destroyed. Thirteen people were killed by the disaster.

–Former head of FEMA slams Obama’s ‘botched’ response to Louisiana floods

With the size of the tragedy, President Obama has come under fire as he has spent the last week on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard and did not end his trip early.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, visited Lousiana last week to hand out supplies and took shots at Obama to score political points.

“Tuesday’s too late,” Trump told Fox News this weekend. “Hop into the plane and go down and go to Louisiana and see what’s going on, because it’s a mess.”

Governor Jon Bel Edwards said he hoped the President would hold off on visiting for a few weeks because of Secret Service requirements and personnel, which he insisted would strain resources while officials dealt with the flooding.

–George W. Bush returns to New Orleans to mark 10th anniversary of Katrina

President Obama declared the flooding a major disaster on August 14th and made $127 million dollars in assistance available.  The President emphasized that even after his visit, the work to rebuild Louisiana would continue.

“Let me just remind folks: sometimes once the floodwaters pass, people’s attention spans pass,” said Obama at today’s press conference.  “This is not a one-off. This is not a photo-op issue. This is how do you make sure that a month from now, three months from now, six months from now people still are getting the help that they need.”

–Post-Katrina, blacks are left out of recovery programs