President Biden on the Administration’s Response to Hurricane Ida

President Biden visited the devastated areas in Southern Louisiana Friday, September 3. He made a statement when he visited a neighborhood in LaPlace, Louisiana.

The President said he was grateful to be able to visit and see first-hand the devastation Hurricane Ida left behind. He said along with the Louisiana Governor, mayors, members of Congress, community leaders, and members, they have been working together to deliver millions of meals and liters of water.

He also said he knows it’s frustration the amount of time it takes to restore power, but twenty-five thousand linemen from around the country have come to help. It’s dangerous work, two young linemen lost their lives helping, but they are working 24/7 to try to get power to residents.

President Biden said they are going to deploy more federal resources, including hundreds of generators, to restore power as fast as possible. He updated they are moving quickly to keep gas flowing to the pumps. There is a law in America that truckers can’t drive past a set amount of hours for safety reasons, but they are trying to provide flexibility so that they can travel and transport more fuel. He said they are expanding the supply of gasoline that can be sold in the state of Louisiana.

“We are working around the clock,” the President said,” with the Governor and the elected officials here until we can meet every need you all have.” He said reports suggest that some insurance companies may deny coverage for living assistance unless the homeowner was under a mandatory evacuation, “so you paid your insurance premiums,” he said, “you’re supposed to get payments for additional living expenses in the case of an emergency. but the insurance companies are saying no.” He said they are putting as much pressure on these companies as possible because they know all the parishes that have issued strong “voluntary” evacuation orders at first, and many didn’t have enough time to make the order mandatory since the storm moved in so quickly.

He stated that no one fled the killer storm because they were looking for a vacation, but they left because they felt they had to flee the risk of death. “There’s nothing voluntary about that,” he said. With that said, he is calling on private insurance companies to not hide behind the fine print and a technicality. “Pay what you owe your customers. Cover temporary housing costs in natural disasters, and help those in need. That’s what we should all be doing now,” he said.

He updated that so far, the federal government, along with the help of the governor, provided $100 million in critical assistance directly to people in Louisiana by putting $500 in bank accounts once they contact the government. FEMA is also helping with transitional sheltering assistance that helps to cover hotel bills to those with unlivable homes. “We’re making sure this kind of relief is equitable. For those hardest hit, the resources they need have to get to them,” he said. He urged those who live in affected areas to visit disasterassistance.gov or call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362).

He said Hurricane Ida is a reminder that we need to be prepared for the next hurricane and superstorms because they are going to still come. He advised that he has been working closely with the governor and colleagues in Congress in both parties on the Build Back Better plan that will modernize the roads, bridges, water systems, sewers and drainage systems, and power grids and transmission lines to make sure they are more resilient.
He commented on the number of wooden power poles he witnessed that were down and how if they would be underground, they would be secure. That, of course, costs more money. “We got to not just build back to what it was,” he said, “We got to build back more resiliently, and we got to make sure we do the same thing across the board.” He commented on the $760 million West Shore project in Southern Louisiana that will build miles of new levees, pumping stations, and drainage structures to protect 60,000 people in the area. “That will change their lives in future storms…I told the governor that he has my full support to get this project done,” he said.

He concluded by saying the federal government is here for the state, “This isn’t about being a Democrat or Republican. We’re Americans, and we’ll get through this together. We just got to remember: We not only have to build back, we have to build back better than it was before — better than it was before so when another superstorm comes, it’s not the damage done.”