Article archive / October 2021
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 10. Source pages: 3.
Gov. J Edwards issued a statement on September 30, following congressional approval of disaster recovery funding for Louisiana.
"Today is a day that many in South Louisiana, myself included, have long waited for, with the passage of aid for Louisiana following a number of disasters, including the devastating Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and Ida. There is desperate need for housing in areas that were devastated by these disasters, and that will be the focus of our work once we learn more about Louisiana's share of this appropriation. In addition to aid for areas affected by Hurricane Ida, the people of Southwest Louisiana will finally get funding they've long deserved following Hurricanes Laura and Delta last year. It's tragic that they've had to wait so long, but this federal assistance will help revitalize communities that have been struggling for a year now. I want to thank the members of the United States Congress, especially Louisiana's congressional delegation, and the White House for supporting this aid for our people, which is a good start to kicking Louisiana's long-term recovery into gear."
On September 30, U.S. Congressman Garret Graves of South Louisiana released the following statement.
"We are exactly one month from Hurricane Ida making landfall and our efforts to deliver hurricane recovery assistance for the citizens of south Louisiana is already paying off. We have folks living in tents back home without electricity while politicians are arguing in Washington DC about how many tens of trillions in debt is an acceptable amount when mortgaging our children and grandchildren's future. They tried to politicize the aid last week and despite the chaos, we were able to get some wins.
"This bill will provide direct assistance to individuals and families to help rebuild communities and homes. We were also able to secure complementary funding that invests in projects such as the Upper Barataria Basin project (St. Charles, St. John, St. James, Jefferson, Ascension, Lafourche and Assumption parishes), Morganza to the Gulf (Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes), Larose to Golden Meadow levee system (Lafourche Parish), and Grand Isle that will make our communities safer. This will also provide funding opportunities to improve protection in communities like Kraemer, Lafitte and many others. This bill will also help to kickstart our economy by opening up and dredging our critical navigation canals such as Mississippi River, Bayou Lafourche, Houma Navigation Canal, the Atchafalaya Basin Channel, Calcasieu Ship Channel and others. We will keep working with our community and parish leaders to help address their needs."
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