BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards today announced that the federal government declared a major disaster for the state of Louisiana. Following a tour of several parishes with a FEMA official, Gov. Edwards requested that President Barack Obama make the declaration. The initial federal declaration is for the following parishes: Tangipahoa, St. Helena, East Baton Rouge and Livingston. Additional parish declarations will be made as further damage assessments are conducted.

“I have traveled to affected areas and have seen the destruction caused by this unprecedented flooding,” said Gov. Edwards. “We are thankful for the federal government’s quick response to our request for an emergency declaration. This is an ongoing event, and we are confident that every available state and federal resource will be brought to bear. I fully expect that more parishes will be added to the declaration on a rolling basis.”

On Friday, August 12, Gov. Edwards declared a state of emergency for the entire state of Louisiana. Gov. Edwards made the request to President Obama on Sunday, August 14. Additional parishes are expected to be added on a rolling basis.

Anyone who has been impacted by this storm should register damages sustained, even if they do not live in these four initial parishes. All registered damage claims in parishes added at a later time will be processed as those parishes are added.

Individuals can register damage on the web or by phone as follows :

Federal Declarations and Types of Assistance available for the following four parishes Tangipahoa, St. Helena, East Baton Rouge and Livingston:

INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE - (Assistance to individuals and households)

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE - (Assistance for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities)

HAZARD MITIGATION GRANT PROGRAM - (Assistance for actions taken to prevent or reduce long term risk to life and property from natural hazards)