You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Jeh Johnson Visits Louisiana, Promises Aid for Flood Victims

HeadlineAug 19, 2016

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson visited parts of Louisiana devastated by historic floods this week and said the federal government will help for as long as it takes communities to recover. At least 13 people were killed, and more than 86,000 people have filed for federal assistance. Forty thousand homes have been damaged or destroyed. This is Johnson speaking in Baton Rouge.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson: “Our hearts are broken, but our faith is strong. The federal government is here. We have been here. We will be here as long as it takes to help this community recover.”

Thousands of people have returned to flood-hit homes as waters have receded. On Thursday, about 4,000 people were in shelters. The local paper, The Advocate, has criticized President Obama for continuing his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard amid the historic flooding, comparing his failure to visit the region to President George W. Bush’s failure to travel to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In the editorial, The Advocate wrote: “We’ve seen this story before in Louisiana, and we don’t deserve a sequel.”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top