AP Wire

La. asking feds to shoulder more of March flood

by The Associated Press

Wikimedia

While the federal government has agreed to pay 90 percent of the response costs for Louisiana's catastrophic mid-August flooding, the state hasn't been able to get a similar deal for flood damage in north Louisiana in March.

The state's congressional delegation and Gov. John Bel Edwards have asked the Obama administration to drop Louisiana's share of response costs from 25 percent to 10 percent for the north Louisiana flooding.

The administration granted such a drop Thursday for last month's south Louisiana flooding, reducing the price tag to local and state agencies for response costs.

U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, a Republican who represents northeast Louisiana, says the March flood impacted more than 40,000 people in mostly rural areas across 36 parishes. He says that storm deserves the same cost-share reduction.