BATON ROUGE – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) toured hurricane damage in Lafourche Parish. He met Parish President Archie Chaisson at the Lafourche Parish Emergency Operations Center in Mathews, followed by visit to a food and water distribution center in Larose and the Port Fourchon Emergency Operations Center. He also reviewed hurricane damage in several communities in Lafourche Parish, including Galliano and Golden Meadow.
With local officials, he discussed what they need to recover from Hurricane Ida. During these discussions, he offered his assistance to help their communities.
This follows Cassidy’s conversation with President Joe Biden on Friday, where he reminded the President of his commitment to support disaster supplemental assistance for southwest Louisiana to fully recover from Hurricanes Laura and Delta. On Thursday, Cassidy and the Louisiana Congressional Delegation added Hurricane Ida to the list of hurricanes from which Louisiana needs assistance.
“All residents of south Louisiana must have their needs addressed,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This means Congress should pass disaster supplemental assistance to recover from Ida, Laura and Delta.”
In a letter to the President on Thursday, Cassidy joined Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) and U.S. Representatives Steve Scalise (R-LA-01), Garret Graves (R-LA-06), Mike Johnson (R-LA-04), Clay Higgins (R-LA-03), Julia Letlow (R-LA-05) and Troy Carter (D-LA-02) to request Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) supplemental assistance for damage caused by Hurricanes Ida, Laura and Delta, and other hurricanes from 2020. They noted that “communities across Southwest and Central Louisiana” impacted by Laura and Delta await assistance, and now residents of southeast Louisiana need help as well.
Background
In addition to the Louisiana Congressional Delegation’s Thursday letter to the President, Senator Cassidy and his colleagues urged President Joe Biden to grant a major disaster declaration for Louisiana following Hurricane Ida. That request was granted, which released disaster relief for Louisiana to start its recovery.
In January of 2021, Louisiana requested $3 billion to address unmet recovery needs after Hurricane Laura. Cassidy and Louisiana’s Congressional Delegation have previously called on Congress and the White House to support disaster relief for southwest Louisiana. They continue to press their colleagues to approve the measure. Additionally, Cassidy announced on Thursday that FEMA awarded 11 grants worth over $68 million to state and local governments to reimburse costs related to Hurricanes Laura and Delta, and for future flood mitigation.
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