Government Response Falls Short of Need After Hurricanes Laura and Zeta
NCLEJ joined Bill Quigley and Davida Finger of Loyola University’s College of Law in filing public record requests today under the Freedom of Information Act and Louisiana Public Records Law Act to obtain documents concerning the state and federal response to the displacement of tens of thousands of Louisiana residents from Hurricanes Laura and Zeta.
In Louisiana, 47,000 homes were damaged by Hurricane Laura alone, 16,000 of which need major repairs. Tens of thousands are still suffering and some families have been forced to move five or more times as a result of grossly inadequate response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state agencies.
“As we’ve witnessed time and again, those hit hardest by the hurricanes have been low-income families, communities of color, and people with disabilities,” said Linda Morris, a staff attorney at NCLEJ. “These disparities will only worsen if FEMA fails to provide immediate and more equitable relief for the people of Louisiana.”
