‘We’re going to have your back,’ Biden promises
LAPLACE, La. — Giant trees knocked sideways. Homes boarded up with plywood. Off-kilter street signs.
Less than a week after Hurricane Ida battered the Gulf Coast, President Biden walked the streets of a stricken Louisiana neighborhood on Friday and told local residents, “I know you’re hurting, I know you’re hurting.”
Biden pledged robust federal assistance to get people back on their feet and said the government already had distributed $100 million directly to individuals in the state in $500 checks to give them a first slice of critical help. Many people, he said, don’t know what help is available because they lost cell phone service.
Residents welcomed Biden’s presence, one of them drawing a sign with his last name and a heart for the dot on the “i.”
More formally, Biden met with state and local officials in LaPlace, a community between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain that suffered major wind and water damage and was left with sheared-off roofs and flooded homes.
“I promise we’re going to have your back,” Biden said.
The devastation was clear even as Air Force One approached New Orleans, with uprooted trees and blue tarps covering shredded houses coming into view. The road to LaPlace was spiked with power-line wood poles jutting from the ground at odd angles.
In shirtsleeves and boots, Biden was welcomed at the airport by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat. Several Republicans, including Sen. Bill Cassidy and Rep. Steve Scalise, the House Republican whip, were also on hand.
Edwards said Biden has “been a tremendous partner,” adding that he intended to keep asking for help until the president says no.
In the aftermath of Ida, Biden is focusing anew on the threat posed by climate change. The storm has killed at 14 people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and dozens more in the Northeast.
The president has pointed to the destruction to call for greater public resolve to confront climate change. His $1 trillion infrastructure legislation intends to ensure that vital networks can withstand the flooding and damage caused by increasingly dangerous weather.
“It seems to me we can save a whole lot of money, a whole lot of pain for our constituents, if we build back, rebuild it back in a better way,” Biden said.
Ida was the fifth-most powerful storm to strike the U.S. when it hit Louisiana on Sunday with maximum winds of 150 mph, likely causing tens of billions of dollars in damage.