Responding to the Louisiana Floods

The flooding in Louisiana is the worst natural disaster to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Sandy. At least 13 people have died and 60,000 homes have been damaged in the devastating floods. Donald Trump visited the region last week. President Obama has faced criticism for his response to the floods, with the Baton Rouge Advocate comparing it to George W. Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina. President Obama has said that he is mindful of the resources required for a Presidential visit, and that is why he has not visited Louisiana yet. The White House has said that the President has been actively engaged on the flooding with an immediate natural disaster declaration and the President visited Louisiana on Tuesday this week.

The rush to claim that President Obama was neglecting Louisiana just doesn't ring true, the response from the federal government has been phenomenal. To argue that the President is somehow callous or uncaring is disingenuous. But more than that, we need to move past this attempt to score political points. Our focus here should be on the people of Louisiana, they are our fellow Americans and right now they are suffering from a devastating natural disaster.

Our focus in this tragedy should be on our fellow Americans who are the victims of this historic flooding. Placing the focus on politics and using a natural disaster and personal tragedy to score political points removes focus from the people who are the actual victims here, and it prevents us from taking the very real actions that we can do to help those who facing a time of incredible hardship.