BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – As floodwaters have receded in southern Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards (D) is reporting the damage done will now exceed $8.7 billion.
Edwards said the damage cost will increase as public agencies and officials “finish assessing damage to roads and other public infrastructure,” according to the Associated Press.
The calculation of the state’s flood damage cost came in the form of a letter by Edwards to President Obama, in which the recently-elected Democratic governor asked for additional federal aid.
Edwards previously asked for help as well, thus the letter to Obama reiterates his request for Congress to direct additional monies to the Disaster Recovery Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-DR).
“Based on the information we have thus far, I believe $2 billion of CDBG-DR funds for additional public investments in housing, economic development, and resilient infrastructure will be necessary for the recovery of our state,” Edwards said in the letter.
Edwards said the funding was needed as some 15 percent of Louisiana flood victims are estimated to never apply for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which has been criticized for its response.
Edwards said just the cost of housing to bring devastated flood areas back to normalcy could exceed $1.2 billion while mentioning that over 80 percent of the homes flooded in the region were not covered with flood insurance.
Edwards noted the extra funds were a “very reasonable request” saying, “Considering these losses, in combination with the economic impacts of over $3 billion and the as yet unknown public infrastructure damages.”
John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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