Homeland Security chief pledges Louisiana aid amid floods

DENHAM SPRINGS, La. – After a tour of flood-ravaged southern Louisiana, the nation’s Homeland Security secretary is pledging that the federal government “will be here as long as it takes to help this community recover.”

In a news conference Thursday with Gov. John Bel Edwards and other officials, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said he expects to brief President Barack Obama soon, and said the president is getting daily briefings on the situation in Louisiana. Obama is currently on vacation in New England.

Johnson said more than 900 Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel are on the ground in Louisiana and hundreds more are expected. He and the governor urged those affected by flooding to apply for government assistance.

Edwards said more than 40,000 homes were affected by the flooding and more than 30,000 people have been rescued. At least 13 people have died.