“Disastrous” Louisiana Flooding Needs to be News

In what has been called the, “the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Superstorm Sandy,” by the American Red Cross and the ‘1,000 year disaster’ by the National Weather Service, the flooding in Louisiana is being largely ignored by national and global media.

Even though the news has largely ignored these ‘unprecedented’ floods, ‘FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate emphasized that the federal government was treating the floods as a headline disaster.’

When hundreds of thousands of people are left homeless, without access to basic needs like food, water, and shelter, the whole world should be watching. Once again, the low income area of Southern Louisiana – like what we saw with Hurricane Katrina – is seeing their nation basically give a ‘oh how sad,’ nod and move on.

A state with a budget crisis and deficit of $2 billion USD, desperately needs coverage at a time like this to help with recovery funds. Some officials fear that those affected will not have flood insurance as this storm hit more inland than is typical for the region.

One theory of Governor John Bel Edwards’, is that this storm didn’t have a name, so people weren’t properly prepared. With larger hurricanes or storms, the impending doom of naming them at least gives people a few days notice.

Below is everything you need to know about the plight of thousands being pushed several pages back in newspapers due to the Olympics and U.S. election.

• Death toll has reached 13 and is still rising
• Authorities have rescued 30,000 people and 1,000 pets
• Over 20 inches of rainfall in under 48 hours unleashed 6.9 trillion gallons of water on Southern Louisiana
• Over 8,000 people are living in shelters.
• 75% of the homes in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, home to 138,000 people, are said to be a ‘total loss’
• At Least 40,000 homes affected by the storm
• 70,000 people have registered for individual assistance under the federal disaster declaration
• 9,000 have filed flood insurance claims
• Damage will cost an estimated $30 million USD to fix
• Obama’s mostly silent response amid pictures of him golfing in Martha’s Vineyard has drawn criticism
• Taylor Swift is donating $1 million USD to flood relief. Lady Gaga has also pledged an undisclosed monetary amount.