Governor John Bel Edwards’ request for a federal emergency disaster declaration has now been expanded to include six more parishes, bringing the total up to 41. The parishes added are Allen, Beauregard, Catahoula, Concordia, Evangeline, and Vernon.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday, July 11 that he approved the emergency declaration.
The storm made landfall Saturday, July 13 as a weak Category 1 hurricane.
The previous 35 parishes included in the disaster declaration is as follows:
Acadia
Ascension
Assumption
Avoyelles
Calcasieu
Cameron
East Baton Rouge
East Feliciana
Iberia
Iberville
Jefferson
Jefferson Davis
Lafayette
Lafourche
Livingston
Orleans
Ouachita
Plaquemines
Pointe Coupee
Rapides
St. Bernard
St. Charles
St. Helena
St. James
St. John the Baptist
St. Landry
St. Martin
St. Mary
St. Tammany
Tangipahoa
Terrebonne
Vermilion
Washington
West Baton Rouge
West Feliciana
An excerpt from the letter Edwards sent to the president relays the gravity of the storm’s potential impacts in the state. Read that excerpt below:
“Over the past 24 hours, 28 parishes have issued parish emergency declarations, 14 parishes are in the process of completing their emergency declarations, and more are anticipated over the next 24 to 48 hours.”
The request additionally ask the federal government to distribute supplementary federal resources as soon as possible should they be needed.
Read the full letter by clicking the link here.