Obama heads to flood-damaged Baton Rouge

(Image credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

published 23 August 2016

On Tuesday, President Obama will head to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on what some say is a long overdue trip to see the damage left by a recent record flood and to visit victims. Obama, who returned from his annual vacation on Martha's Vineyard on Sunday, has drawn criticism from both Republicans and Baton Rouge's newspaper, The Advocate, for not cutting his vacation short. "A disaster this big begs for the personal presence of the President at ground zero," an editorial published Thursday in The Advocate read.

However, Press Secretary Josh Earnest insisted that although Obama may not have focused on the "optics," he has focused on producing a "coordinated government response." The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been praised by Democrats and Republicans alike for its response, a stark contrast to the criticism the agency faced after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "I think the effectiveness of the response thus far speaks for itself," Earnest said. "And I think frankly, it's the most effective way to answer any of the politically motivated criticism that the president has faced."

The flood, which has been called the "worst U.S. disaster since Superstorm Sandy," killed 13 people and damaged 60,000 homes.