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As Federal Disaster Declaration Grows, Governor Says 'Nobody Has Been Forgotten'

Wallis Watkins

The federal disaster declaration now includes twenty south Louisiana parishes impacted by flooding. 

As of Tuesday, the following parishes included were: Acadia, Ascension, Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Vermillion, Washington and West Feliciana.

“I am confident that more parishes are going to be added," said Governor John Bel Edwards at a press conference on Tuesday.

The grim work of door-to-door searches has begun, starting in “the parishes where this is going to be most needed," said Edwards.

But they’re not just checking homes.

“In this case," he explained, "we have a lot of automobiles that are not where they’re supposed to be and they’ve been washed off of roadways. We’re going to have to search and mark each of those automobiles and we pray we don’t find any motorists deceased in those automobiles.”

Flood waters remain and are moving south, which Edwards said could impede the effort.

“But we’re not going to wait for the water to go down, it’s just going to take longer to get it done.”

Accompanied by FEMA administrator Craig Fugate, Edwards urged people to register for assistance.

“I’m asking everyone out there who’s been impacted by this storm - if you haven’t done it yet, please register for disaster assistance at disasterassistance.gov.”

He also pointed to the need for volunteers “to come and help individuals to muck out their homes, to get the mud out, to get wet drywall removed, to get carpets and ruined floors out, so that individuals will be able to get back in their homes as quickly as possible.”

These are the first steps towards recovery for the region, which will no doubt be long, arduous and expensive.

Edwards assured that the state's already tight budget “is not going to limit what we do to make sure the people get the assistance that they need both in the response and in the recovery phase. That is my commitment to the people of Louisiana.”