{"id":128254,"date":"2021-09-05T20:57:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T03:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=128254"},"modified":"2021-09-05T20:57:48","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T03:57:48","slug":"president-biden-in-a-briefing-on-the-impact-of-hurricane-ida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=128254","title":{"rendered":"President Biden in a Briefing on the Impact of Hurricane Ida"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>LaPlace, Louisiana,&#8230;St. John Parish\u2019s Emergency Operations Center&#8230;MR. RICHMOND:  Let me \u2014 let me thank everybody for coming here.  I\u2019m sure he doesn\u2019t need any introduction, but I just want to say it\u2019s good to be back, but, more importantly, the President wanted to get here as soon as, one, it wasn\u2019t a distraction and draining resources.  So we\u2019re glad that the governor assured us of that and invited us down.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aRYDUuLYweE\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But the President has been chomping at the bit to really make sure that recovery is going well and to make sure that he can see hands on.<\/p>\n<p>But you don\u2019t need to hear from me.  With that, I\u2019ll turn it over to the President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, look, folks, you know, this storm has been incredible, not only here but all the way up the East Coast.  I\u2019ve been spending time with \u2014 in talking with the governor a lot, but, in the meantime, also with governors of my state of Delaware and Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, where there are more deaths than you have here.  I hope that doesn\u2019t change in terms of the number of lost lives.<\/p>\n<p>And I have a daughter who went to Tulane.  And she runs a Boys and Girls Club operation, and she called me and said, \u201cDad, when are you going \u2014 why are spending a time talking to the governor of New York?  Why are you not in Louisiana?\u201d  (Laughter.)  So, you all got to write a note for me that I\u2019m down, all right?<\/p>\n<p>Look, you know, Cedric and \u2014 and the FEMA Administrator, we came because want to hear directly from you all what is \u2014 what specific problems you\u2019re dealing with.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve been working with you on key areas to deliver more than 6.7 million meals and 6.1 million liters of water.  But sometimes what we deliver and what is needed aren\u2019t all the same thing.  And we\u2019re frustrated, I know \u2014 you got to be frustrated about the restoration of power.  And I understand two gentlemen who run those two operations are working like hell.  I think you got \u2014 you got about 25,000 linemen from around the country here.  A couple have already given their life trying to get things going.<\/p>\n<p>And \u2014 and so we\u2019re working 24\/7 with the energy companies \u2014 I think they had to acknowledge that \u2014 to get the system up and moving.  And we also deployed even more federal resources, including hundreds of generators to restore power and \u2014 faster than we were able to do in Katrina.<\/p>\n<p>You know, it\u2019s dangerous work, as I said, and I want to thank those 25,000 linemen from 32 different states.  I\u2019ve always been \u2014 responded in big time.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re also working with the phone companies so you can \u2014 you know, I think the worst thing in the world, having been there in a different circumstance, wanting to \u2014 you know, knowing things are terrible outside, when you\u2019re standing and wondering how your son, daughter, mother, father, uncle, aunt, and how they\u2019re doing and not being able to get connected to them.<\/p>\n<p>And so we\u2019re moving as \u2014 as fast as we can to be able to provide access, regardless who your provider was.  If your provider\u2019s system went down, you\u2019ll be able to use any provider that\u2019s on there; you just got to get online.  So I hope that\u2019s picking up around the state as well.  I\u2019d like to hear more about that.<\/p>\n<p>But \u2014 and we\u2019re moving as fast as we can to keep gas flowing in the pumps.  I\u2019ve authorized going into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.  And \u2014 but I know still, you know, there\u2019s work to do in this area.  And we\u2019ve instructed my team to have all hands on deck to make sure that that happens \u2014 that we have the, you know \u2014 and they\u2019re going to make this up \u2014 instead of us going to Exxon, kind of get back out there.  And we\u2019re going to be able to work that through.<\/p>\n<p>And, to date, we\u2019ve also provided $100 million in direct assistance directly to folks in Louisiana, with that 500 bucks going into their bank accounts so that they can deal immediately with emergencies. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d love to hear from you if you\u2019ve heard anything \u2014 feedback from your constituents \u2014 about that at all.  Because sometimes it\u2019s just that \u2014 what you need that moment, and it can make a difference. <\/p>\n<p>And we also know there\u2019s a heck of a lot more work to do and \u2014 and that\u2019s why we\u2019re here today.  And my message today is \u2014 I think what we\u2019re all seeing, and I\u2019m getting the same response from my Republican friends \u2014 Republican friends here that are in the Congress: There\u2019s nothing political about this.  It\u2019s just simply about saving lives and getting people back up and running. <\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re in this together, and so we\u2019re not going to leave any community behind \u2014 rural, city, coastal, inland.  And I promise we\u2019re going to have your backs until this gets done. <\/p>\n<p>And so, I\u2019m mainly here to listen, to see what\u2019s on your mind.  Be able \u2014 be able to ask a few questions.  And if they\u2019re really hard questions I can\u2019t answer, I\u2019ll turn to Cedric or the Director. (Laughter.)  As you probably know about me, I\u2019ll have an opinion. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>At any rate, so thank you, thank you, thank you.  I\u2019ll turn it back to you, Cedric, and let\u2019s see what we can do here. <\/p>\n<p>MR. RICHMOND:  Well, thank you, Mr. President.  We\u2019ll turn it over to the governor, who\u2019s leading the statewide recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Governor Edwards.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR EDWARDS:  Thank you, Cedric, and welcome back home. <\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, we appreciate you being in Louisiana today, and thank you for accepting the invitation. <\/p>\n<p>And I want you to know that, on Tuesday of this week, Administrator Criswell and I were in this very room because she had already come down.  And it makes a difference to be on the ground, to meet with people, and to actually see the damage.  So we appreciate you being here. <\/p>\n<p>And \u2014 and I appreciate the pre-landfall declaration you signed very quickly when I requested it.  And then when I requested the major disaster declaration, you signed that as well. <\/p>\n<p>And doing things timely is really important.  So we were able to assemble the largest urban search and rescue team in advance of landfall in the history of our country, and it was tremendously helpful.  You know, we had 1,300 people, including our own \u2014 but from, you know, I think was 19 different states that came in to be able to do that. <\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s been a tremendously devastating storm.  We\u2019re going to be a long time recovering.  The initial part is about getting people\u2019s lives right-side up, saving lives, and that sort of thing.  And then the recovery is going to be \u2014 you know, it\u2019s going to go on for quite some time.  And so, we know that you\u2019re \u2014 you\u2019re here with us today, but you\u2019re going to be with us for the long haul as well. <\/p>\n<p>I did want to point out that \u2014 that the immediate impacts of the storm that were \u2014 we were up to nine confirmed deaths related to the storm (inaudible).  And so very tragic anytime you lose life, but ult- \u2014 you know, largely, that was a big success story. <\/p>\n<p>Secondly, the investments the federal government made in the levee system around New Orleans were just so helpful.  There wasn\u2019t a levee anywhere in Louisiana, state or federal, that failed. <\/p>\n<p>We had a few of the minor levees that overtopped \u2014 and if your home got water because of that, it\u2019s not minor; it\u2019s serious \u2014 but we\u2019re talking about very low numbers compared to what would have happened. <\/p>\n<p>So investing in infrastructure, in resiliency, and making sure that we do things better and smarter, it does pay off, because this would be a much more expensive storm to recover from had we not already made those investments.<\/p>\n<p>So we welcome you.  We thank you for being here. <\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Can I say one thing, please?  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>No, hell, you know, once you represent a district, you never stop representing it.  You know what I mean?<\/p>\n<p>MR. RICHMOND:  That\u2019s true.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  But, you know, one of the things I hope you keep an eye on is \u2014 I mean, everybody to keep an eye on \u2014 is that, you know, I got, kind of \u2014 not beat up, but I got criticized from my talking \u2014 when I was running for office \u2014 we got to Build Back Better. <\/p>\n<p>Things have changed and so drastically in terms of the environment.  We\u2019ve already crossed certain thresholds.  We can\u2019t build back a road, a highway, and a bridge or anything to what it was before.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, you\u2019ve got to build back to what it is now \u2014 what\u2019s needed now.<\/p>\n<p>And I know the head of the energy companies understand this really well.  We have a significant piece of legislation, both the infrastructure bill and a budget thing \u2014 a reconciliation bill that calls for significant investment in being able to deal with what is about to come.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, for example, when you guys are putting back up those high-tension wires again \u2014 and that\u2019s working \u2014 you\u2019re not going to put up the same exact system.  You got to \u2014 you\u2019re going to have to build it better, and its resiliency.<\/p>\n<p>And so, I just want you all focusing on \u2014 and as you take a look \u2014 and I\u2019m going to presume to send you copies of this stuff \u2014 take a look and see if what we\u2019re \u2014 what we\u2019re suggesting makes enough sense to you.  Not whether it\u2019s enough money or not, or too much, but does it make sense.  Does it make sense.  <\/p>\n<p>For example, coming in and seeing all the polls down.  Well, you know, I mean, we\u2019re going to build back better.  I mean, you know, we know if it\u2019s underground, it costs a hell of a lot more money, but guess what?  It saves a hell of a lot more money long term.<\/p>\n<p>And we know that the kind of stuff that goes across even \u2014 you saw the high-tension stuff going down across the Mississippi, like it did once in the Delaware River, which is a hell of a lot wider than the Mississippi River.  It\u2019s \u2014 you know. <\/p>\n<p>And \u2014 and so we have to \u2014 it seems to me we can save a whole lot of money and a whole lot of pain \u2014 pain for our constituents \u2014 if when we build back, we build it back in \u2014 in a better way.<\/p>\n<p>And it will create \u2014 and I realize I\u2019m selling as I\u2019m talking too, but it\u2019ll create really significant good-paying jobs.  Not 15-dollar-an-hour jobs, but jobs of prevailing wage.  And it generates economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>But I just \u2014 I just hope we don\u2019t go about deciding, just like \u2014 and you and I talked a lot about it \u2014 the levee system, and the one the federal government \u2014 that\u2019s the only one I\u2019m fully familiar with.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, that was a lot of money.  But think how much money it saved and how many lives it saved.  So, I hope you\u2019ll think about that.<\/p>\n<p>So when you hear the ra- \u2014 the word \u201cresiliency\u201d \u2014 and I know the energy guys know this \u2014 it\u2019s about making a system, from our transmission of energy straight through to the highways we\u2019re building and the bridges, resilient to the changes that we\u2019re taking \u2014 that we\u2019re seeing happen.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m sorry, I wanted to repeat that again.  But I \u2014 I just hope you take a look at it and tell me if we need more or less, too. <\/p>\n<p>MR. RICHMOND:  Well, thank you, Mr. President.  I think, with that, it\u2019s a great way to segue to our FEMA Administrator, Deanne Criswell.<\/p>\n<p>MS. CRISWELL:  Thank you, Cedric.  Mr. President, Governor, so far, you know, in addition to some of the numbers that you mention, we have about 1,200 responders from the federal family on the ground, and that doesn\u2019t include those that are back at our National Response Coordination Center, as well as our Regional Response Coordination Center, representing 22 different federal government agencies.<\/p>\n<p>We have, right now, 197 ambulances that have been actively engaged in trying to help with managing your support for the healthcare system.  We also have 12 mobile communication units.  Comms have been down, and so we\u2019ve sent them into the parishes to help increase some of the communications until the cell towers could come back up.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d also like to mention that we did just turn on the Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program.  The governor asked for that, I think yesterday or maybe the day before, which means now individuals that are displaced can stay in a hotel for a short term while we\u2019re looking at what their long-term lodging situation is.<\/p>\n<p>And so, if they haven\u2019t registered, if the people in your communities have not registered yet, they should register for assistance.  Those that have registered, we will reach out to them automatically. <\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019ve also turned on the Blue Roof program.  We saw some of the blue roofs as we flew in today.  And so, those who have damages to their roofs, they can go to BlueRoof.us. <\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Let\u2019s make it clear: The Governor is afraid of that guy.  That\u2019s why he insisted \u2014 (laughter).<\/p>\n<p>ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  So, we\u2019ll have that available to help with some of those temporary roofing repairs. <\/p>\n<p>And then the last thing I\u2019ll just quickly mention is we know that responder lodging is a concern.  I\u2019ve heard that from you, Governor, as well as some of your staff.<\/p>\n<p>We are moving responder lodging into the areas.  We have 200 beds that are already set up here in New Orleans \u2014 or, in New Orleans at the airport.  We have 300 more en route to Morgan City.  And we have 300 en route to Belle Chasse.  And then we\u2019re also looking at bringing in a cruise ship to help support responders. <\/p>\n<p>And this isn\u2019t just for our federal responders, this will be for your first responders as well.  And so, we\u2019re actively pursuing additional lodging to help support those that really need to be able to stay close and support your communities. <\/p>\n<p>And this is just the beginning.  We\u2019re going to be here until \u2014 until your recovery is over.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Not going away. <\/p>\n<p>MR. RICHMOND:  Mr. President, before I recognize our host \u2014 Parish host, as we looked at those blue roofs, and I think this is important, especially for the country to know, that as our federal program gets up and running, we\u2019ve provided blue roofs, but a lot of those roofs are up because the people of Louisiana decided to get on their roof, put up a tarp, mitigate their damage, and start that recovery process immediately. <\/p>\n<p>So, the fact that you were able to get those tarps out to parishes so people could pick them up and start their recovery was important.  And looking at the vast number, it was just incredible and gives me a sense of Louisiana pride to just show that when we get knocked down, we get right back up. <\/p>\n<p>And with that, I\u2019ll recognize \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Can I make one other point?  One of the things that, again, about resilience, where \u2014 you\u2019re going to get the funding to build back those roofs, but not the same roof \u2014 a roof that is more resistant to higher winds, more resistance to hurricanes. <\/p>\n<p>So, it\u2019s not just building back to what the roof was before, to build it back better.  That\u2019s kind of what I mean \u2014 that\u2019s a classic example of what I\u2019m talking about \u2014 resilience \u2014 of changing the nature of it. <\/p>\n<p>MR. RICHMOND:  So, Mr. President, with that, I\u2019ll recognize the Parish President for St. John Parish, Jaclyn Hotard.<\/p>\n<p>MS. HOTARD:  Thank you, Cedric.  Mr. President, Governor, FEMA, and all of our partners, thank you for all of the hard work that was done in preparation for Hurricane Ida.  And thank you for the response so far on the ground and for continuing to ramp up those efforts. <\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, from your track record, I know you will be a great partner in our recovery.  Thank you for your support and your continued support for the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain levee project.  And thank you for calling out the insurance companies for distinguishing between mandatory and voluntary evacuations. <\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, our immediate needs are power, water, communications, and financial assistance for those who can\u2019t return home and are forced to stay somewhere else during the recovery.  And thank you. <\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you. <\/p>\n<p>MR. RICHMOND:  You know, part of some of the dilemmas when we do meetings like this is who we\u2019re going to recognize and who we\u2019re going to recognize next, and Senate \u2014 now-Congressman Carter represents the second congressional district, which we\u2019re in and would be a logical choice, but actually Congressman Graves has more seniority on him.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>(The press is escorted out of the room.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LaPlace, Louisiana,&#8230;St. John Parish\u2019s Emergency Operations Center&#8230;MR. RICHMOND: Let me \u2014 let me thank everybody for coming here. I\u2019m sure he doesn\u2019t need any introduction, but I just want to say it\u2019s good to be back, but, more importantly, the President wanted to get here as soon as, one, it wasn\u2019t a distraction and draining [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Chrome-Legacy-Window-952021-85547-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128254"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128257,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128254\/revisions\/128257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/128255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}