RACELAND, La. —
A fire that started from a pile of Hurricane Ida debris is burning faster than firefighters can control in Raceland, according to the Lafourche Parish President.
The fire is mainly affecting areas near Highway 190 and Highway 182.
According to Archie Chaisson, the fire has been burning for more than a week and started in a state government dump. No homes or structures are being threatened, but smoke is causing a problem.
Actually there is some better news on the disaster relief front. Earlier this month it looked to all the world as though Louisiana would have to forego federal help in order that the US could send more bombs to the Ukraine war zone. That turns out not to be the case, exactly. This week they found $1.7 billion in the couch cushions somewhere.
Hopes had been all but lost in the Lake Charles area for further long-term relief after Congress approved a massive federal spending package earlier this month without it.
But given the state’s stark needs, federal officials decided to grant additional money to Louisiana out of a previously approved amount set aside for disaster relief nationwide. Ida aid was expected to eventually come from that, but at a lower amount. Graves and Kennedy criticized the allocations as taking too long.
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge noted that a primary goal of the funding was to help low- to moderate-income families recover and rebuild more resiliently.
Keep in mind this is mostly to deal with the still un-met needs resulting from Hurricanes Delta and Laura. The Governor says they're still looking for another $2.5 billion for Ida. Until then, keep the fire going, I guess.
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