Governor John Bel Edwards declares a state of emergency for four southeast Louisiana parishes affected by Tuesday’s tornadoes. Edwards spoke with the media after surveying the damage in Arabi. The governor says teams will make their best estimates of damage to homes and businesses, to prepare the state’s request for FEMA assistance.
“There’s a dollar threshold and we’re going to have to have about $7.6-million in damage to public infrastructure if we’re going to get assistance with that from the federal government,” said Edwards.
The Governor’s emergency declaration is for St. Bernard, Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes. He says residents can help to speed up recovery aid by taking digital photos of damage to their homes or businesses and share that information with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness.
“We’re asking homeowners and renters to self-report to GOHSEP, so that we can keep a list. But you can do that on your phone or on your computer. You can go to ‘damage.la.gov’.”
Many Louisiana storm victims have expressed frustration with their insurance companies for refusing claims, “low-balling” settlement offers and foot-dragging on settling and paying. Edwards says this is usually NOT the case with tornado damage, because there are generally fewer claims filed than with hurricanes.
Comments