BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – “No show Hillary Clinton, that’s what we call her around here. She didn’t even call it in,” said U.S. Senate candidate Rob Maness, discussing the recent flood response in Louisiana in America’s south-east.
The “storm with no name” or the “hurricane with no wind” struck Baton Rouge and its surrounding areas in the middle of August, leaving 13 dead, and thousands without homes or possessions.
Over 7 trillion gallons of water fell on the state over just a few days, with more water in two days than some U.S. cities have seen in nearly six years. The amount is believed to be around three times what Hurricane Katrina delivered in 2005.
Breitbart News visited the affected communities, inspecting damaged houses and possessions, and speaking to those who had come from all around the country to help the relief effort.
Most noteworthy, when travelling through affected areas like Walker, was the putrid smell created by a mix of sewage, rain water, drywall, and dust. While what we saw looked like a scene from a disaster movie, the smell resembled nothing we had ever experienced in a first world country. In amongst all of that, residents and helpers continued to work to remove damaged items, strip out homes, and plan to rebuild their lives from the ground up.
Around 70,000 people have now applied for assistance, but most residents speaking to Breitbart News said they did not have flood cover or insurance because their homes were not deemed by local and national authorities to be in a flood zone.
Many, concerned they would get “pennies on the dollar” for ruined possessions, were grateful for the assistance of local churches and the “Cajun Navy” – a volunteer flotilla force of locals with boats who saved thousands of people during the disaster.
But residents were less than impressed with U.S. President Barack Obama and his would-be successor, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
One local told Breitbart News that Mrs. Clinton may have a “personnel issue” which kept her away from the state after the disaster. Instead, she chose to fly to California to schmooze with liberal, Hollywood donors and celebrities.
Her failure to attend the flooded areas was underscored by a visit from Republican candidate Donald Trump, who not only brought attention to the area, but also donated $100,000 to the relief efforts.
While President Obama eventually visited the area – after refusing to cut short his golf vacation – many locals referred to the effort as “too little, too late”.
You can watch Breitbart News’s coverage of the disaster and the political fallout above, or by clicking here.