Biden walks storm-ravaged Louisiana: ‘I know you’re hurting’

The president pledged robust federal assistance to get people back on their feet.

By

National News

September 3, 2021 - 9:04 PM

The Maldonado family travel by boat to their home after it flooded during Hurricane Ida, on Tuesday, August 31, in Barataria, Louisiana. "I've lost everything" said Fusto Maldonado when asked about the storm's effect. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images/TNS)

LAPLACE, La. (AP) — Giant trees knocked sideways. Homes boarded up with plywood. Off-kilter street signs.

Less than a week after Hurricane Ida battered the Gulf Coast, President Joe Biden walked the streets of a hardhit Louisiana neighborhood on Friday and told local residents, “I know you’re hurting, I know you’re hurting.”

Biden pledged robust federal assistance to get people back on their feet and said the government already had distributed $100 million directly to individuals in the state in $500 checks to give them a first slice of critical help. Many people, he said, don’t know what help is available because they can’t get cellphone service.

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