EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP) — President Barack Obama is unlikely to break from a New England vacation to survey Louisiana flood damage, despite calls for him to visit.
The White House says Obama is not indifferent to the suffering of thousands who were washed out of their homes in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas of the state. At least 13 people have died because of the flooding.
The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge on Wednesday called on Obama to visit “the most anguished state in the union.”
Obama has not commented on the flooding. The White House says he’s being updated regularly and has approved a federal disaster declaration for the affected areas.
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate visited Louisiana on Wednesday, followed by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Thursday.