Laura evacuees protest, cite slow aid response from FEMA

People prepare to board a bus for evacuation before the arrival of hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, Louisiana on August 25, 2020. – Storm Laura was upgraded to a destructive hurricane on August 25 and is forecast to make landfall along the Texas or Louisiana coasts on Wednesday night, after earlier causing 20 deaths in Haiti.”Laura has become a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h), with higher gusts,” the US National Hurricane Center reported. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Posted: Sep 11, 2020 / 06:46 AM AST

Updated: Sep 11, 2020 / 06:46 AM AST

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — About two dozen Hurricane Laura evacuees and their advocates on Thursday marched through the streets of New Orleans to protest what they called the “slow response” from the federal government on getting them needed financial help.

Evacuees from Lake Charles, DeRidder, Vinton and other cities hit hard when Laura raked the state last month marched holding signs that read “FEMA _ The people of Lake Charles need assistance now” and “FEMA _ Lake Charles children need school today.”

The march ended outside the federal building in New Orleans. One of the march’s organizers says Lake Charles and its surroundings suffered an estimated $10 to 12 billion in damage but FEMA has only released $29 million.

A FEMA spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.