Louisiana seeks federal assistance in tornado outbreak recovery in Ruston
Governor John Bel Edwards is seeking federal assistance to help pay for the nearly $6 million in preliminary uninsured damages to Ruston from an EF-3 tornado. Edwards says unfortunately because of bureaucratic rules, it might be a while before the federal dollars arrive.
“But you can rest assured that the team behind me with my assistance, we’re going to do everything we can to return Rustin, Lincoln Parish, and Louisiana Tech to a sense of normal,” said Edwards.
Louisiana Tech has an estimated five million dollars in uninsured damages and the total amount of damages is about $20 million. The school’s baseball, softball and soccer stadiums have to be rebuilt and there’s also damage to the university’s housing units. Edwards says the rebuild will take a while
“Because the type of construction we have to undergo, if it started today, it would be a good while before it is finished, and of course, we can’t get started today,” said Edwards.
Edwards says once the rebuild is over, Louisiana Tech and the city of Ruston will be stronger.
“The facilities will be better and we are going to make sure that we take significant efforts to mitigate against future risks of damage to the university and the city of Rustin,” said Edwards.