St. Landry Parish added to federal disaster declaration

Gov. John Bel Edwards’ request that President Barack Obama expand the existing federal declaration for the state of Louisiana to include additional parishes has been granted.
The eight additional parishes were included in Edwards’ initial request for a federal disaster declaration but required additional data.
The additional declarations were announced in a news release Tuesday morning.
The eight newly approved parishes include:
Acadia
Ascension
East Feliciana
Iberia
Lafayette
Pointe Coupee
St. Landry
Vermilion
“I have traveled to the impacted parishes and met with families dealing with devastating loss due to this historic flood event,” Edwards said. “I am grateful that the federal government has added additional parishes to this disaster declaration. We are traveling the state with FEMA representatives who are constantly collecting data on the damage, and we will continuously update our request to add more parishes as needed. I am optimistic that more parishes will be approved as we work around the clock to ensure every resource is available to the people of Louisiana.”
On Monday, Edwards submitted additional information for eight additional parishes to be added to the Major Disaster Declaration from the federal government.
On Sunday, Edwards requested that President Barack Obama declare a major disaster for 21 Louisiana parishes. Four parish requests were granted in the initial declaration – East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Helena and Tangipahoa, the first parishes in the state struck by high water. Additional parishes will continuously be added to the declaration on a rolling basis.
The 21 initially requested parishes include:
Allen
Ascension
Avoylles
East Baton Rouge
East Feliciana
Iberia
Iverville
Jefferson Davis
Lafayette
Livingston
Pointe Capee
St. Helena
St. Landry
St. Martin
St. Tammany
Tangipahoa
Vermilion
Washington
Since Saturday, Edwards has traveled the state with officials to assess the damage, including traveling with a FEMA representative who could provide immediate feedback to the federal government.
Additional parish requests will be made in the coming days.