Obama visits flood-damaged Louisiana after criticism he should have come sooner

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

President Obama landed Tuesday in southern Louisiana, arriving 10 days after the region was devastated by record flooding -- after choosing not to cut short his Martha's Vineyard vacation in spite of mounting criticism.

 

The president, after landing in Baton Rouge, plans to tour some of the hardest-hit areas in the southern part of the state.

 

Some places got soaked with three inches or more of rain in a single hour. In all, between Aug. 11 and Aug. 14, more than 20 inches of rain saturated southeast Louisiana. Thirteen people died and nearly 61,000 homes in 20 parishes have been damaged or destroyed.

 

As of Monday, 3,075 Louisiana residents remained in emergency shelters as state and federal officials scrambled to find housing.

 

The sheer magnitude of the destruction – which drew comparisons to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 – prompted the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend a grace period to renew lapsed flood insurance policies for parts of Louisiana.

 

On Monday, the White House was forced to defend Obama’s decision not to visit the state sooner. Press Secretary John Earnest told reporters the president stayed away so he could focus on the federal response rather than exploit the situation for a photo op.

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Unlike he does with every other situation...