Lake Charles Mayor Speaks Out About Lack of Federal Disaster Aid for Southwest Louisiana

Published July 17, 2021

On Saturday, July 17, 2021, Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter took to Facebook to share his thoughts about the lack of federal aid and action after Southwest Louisiana was hit by four federally declared disasters in less than a year. The Lake Charles Mayor also shared photos of several heavily damaged homes in the area he took on a short drive around part of the city.

From Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter:

Am I living in the Twilight Zone? Is this America? I took these pictures TODAY on JULY 17, 2021, almost 11 months after Hurricane Laura, 9 months after Hurricane Delta, 4 months after a Winter Storm, and 2 months after a 1,000 Year Flood Event, all of which hit Lake Charles. It took me about 15 minutes to drive around and catch these images. Multiply this by 600 and that’s a better picture of Southwest Louisiana right now.

Other communities that have been hit by ONE major, natural disaster have received supplemental disaster aid from Washington DC. Supplemental Disaster Aid came 10 days after Hurricane Katrina and 98 days after Superstorm Sandy. Lake Charles is sitting at 320 days post-Hurricane Laura, having endured FOUR federally declared disasters in the course of 10 months (more than any other City in American history), and we still have not received supplemental disaster aid from Washington DC. There’s a lot of people who should and could be doing more.
Washington DC has spent money like water on everything under the sun over the last year, and we can’t find a few drops to help Americans here in Southwest Louisiana? This is a humanitarian crisis right here within our own borders.

This past Thursday, Senator John Kennedy introduced the “Gulf Coast Hurricane Aid Act” for unanimous consent. Senator Rand Paul blocked the bill. Without getting into the political minutia of Washington DC, it is very clear to me that the quickest and best chance for supplemental disaster relief is for an official request and bold statement of support from President Biden.

Images source: Nic Hunter Lake Charles Mayor Facebook page.