BATON ROUGE – President Barack Obama got an eyeful as he walked through one of south Louisiana’s hardest hit areas Tuesday, yet another instance where he has come to Louisiana following a disaster.
Obama previously visited following the BP oil spill and Hurricane Isaac.
“As 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,” he said Tuesday, after walking through the Castle Place subdivision in Zachary.
President Obama went door-to-door on Judith Street, walking past piles of debris and meeting with flood victims. He went into homes, in some cases hugging residents and promising to deliver much-needed aid to flood-ravaged Louisiana.
Neighbors lined Plank road north of Baton Rouge to get a glimpse of the president.
“I am so happy he came out here,” said Melissa Hawkins. “It shows his concern for the residents of this small town of Zachary.”
His trip came amid criticism that he failed to cut short his summer vacation to see the devastation sooner.
“Sometimes when these kinds of things happen, it can seem a little too much to bear, but what I want the people of Louisiana to know is that you’re not alone on this – even after the cameras leave.”
Obama spent about an hour meeting with neighbors, talking to them and taking some photos. Every home in the neighborhood flooded when the Comite River overflowed its banks 11 days ago.
“He came to each of the homes and he told us everything was going to be okay and they’re working diligently to come through and make sure we are all taken care of,” said Venitia Gooden.
“Him walking through, he sees first hand as to what this no-name system has done and that the assistance that is needed here in the state and the outpouring of support that is still needed here,” said Chrisena Brown.
State leaders, including Governor John Bel Edwards, who rode with the president, are pushing for more federal disaster assistance.
Already, 120,000 Louisiana residents have applied for aid through FEMA. An estimated 60,000 homes were damaged by the floods.
The president said that $120 million in federal aid has already been approved and is starting to be paid out to those impacted by the floods.
“This is not a one-off,” Obama emphasized. “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 are still getting the help that they need.”
Before leaving, Obama met with the family of Alton Sterling, who was shot to death during a confrontation with police officers last month. He also met with families of police officers who were killed in an ambush two weeks later in the wake of angry protests.