Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter met with federal officials Wednesday and has plans for more meetings today to discuss Southwest Louisiana’s lingering need for supplemental disaster recovery money. Over the last several months, Hunter has grown increasingly frustrated at the lack of federal assistance to help the region recover from Hurricane Laura’s destructive landfall last August. 

The mayor met Wednesday with Sen. John Kennedy and Department of Housing and Urban Development staff. He has a string of meetings scheduled today, including White House staff, Office of Management and Budget staff, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Port Barre. A meeting with President Joe Biden isn’t scheduled, he said.

“I’m hopeful that sitting down with them in person and showing them images of what people are going through in Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana might make more of an impact than what’s happened so far,” Hunter said. 

Biden visited Lake Charles May 6 and spoke largely of his American Jobs Plan, but he also acknowledged the area’s need for federal disaster recovery assistance. The president also called Hunter May 19 to check in after the historic May 17 flooding that occurred after 12-plus inches of rain fell throughout Lake Charles.

Hunter said he appreciates federal officials being vocal about Southwest Louisiana’s need for disaster recovery money. However, the time for action is long overdue. He mentioned how federal assistance was approved 10 days after Hurricane Katrina’s 2005 landfall and 98 days after Hurricane Sandy’s 2012 landfall.

“Here we sit 320 days post (Hurricane) Laura, and we went through four federally-declared disasters, not just one,” Hunter said. “We need more than pats on the back and warm gestures. We need something tangible.”

During Biden’s May 19 phone call to Hunter, the president said approval of a federal supplemental package “should be an American thing,” instead of being based on political parties.

“Yet, we still have Americans who are suffering in Southwest Louisiana,” Hunter said. “Someone has to better explain to me why our citizens in Southwest Louisiana haven’t achieved the same level of response in Washington D.C. that dozens of citizens have received over the last few years.”

Hunter said this was his first visit to Washington D.C. since Hurricane Laura, and it happened because of relaxed COVID-19 restrictions there. The mayor will return to Lake Charles Friday.