BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration has approved Louisiana’s request for a major disaster declaration after flash flooding in mid-May damaged several thousand homes and left five people dead, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Wednesday.
Residents in five parishes — Ascension, Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, Iberville and Lafayette — are now eligible to apply for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Edwards said.
“I want to thank President Biden for his quick approval of our request for a Major Disaster Declaration, which will go a long way to help the thousands of people affected in Louisiana by quick and severe flash flooding that damaged homes and left five people dead,” Edwards said.
Edwards’ initial request was for FEMA Individual Assistance for the affected parishes. Individual assistance includes aid from FEMA related to housing and other needs. The White House also approved Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding statewide. If additional parishes have sufficient damage, Edwards’ office said the disaster request will be amended to add those areas.
Edwards declared a state of emergency for this disaster on May 17.
So far, more than 2,900 homes have reported damage from the severe weather, including six that were reported as destroyed, 737 with major damage and 1,209 homes having minor damage.