More than 600 hurricane evacuees are still living in hotels in Lafayette and New Orleans, officials at a briefing in Lake Charles on Tuesday reported.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, who was joined there by officials from FEMA and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, called the ongoing 2020 hurricane season recovery efforts “substantial but insufficient.”
Many people still don’t have permanent housing. More than 800 people are living in FEMA mobile trailers, and more are needed. In the Lake Charles area, there are still debris-covered roads, ditches in need of cleaning, and bridges in need of repairs.
“People in Southwest Louisiana and elsewhere around the state who were impacted by hurricanes may be tempted to believe that people aren’t paying attention,” Edwards said. “Well, I will tell you that we are working very hard.”
FEMA has paid out nearly $250 million to survivors. Another $100 million has been paid out in flood insurance claims. Nearly 70,000 households got emergency food stamps.
Edwards said the state is still trying to get more federal disaster money, but that will require congressional approval.
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