Kennedy: Destruction in Louisiana from Hurricane Laura will ‘take your breath away’

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said Sunday that the destruction in his home state caused by Hurricane Laura will “take your breath away.”

Kennedy told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that the hurricane’s “path of destruction” reaches about 400 miles, likely affecting between 1 million to 2 million people.  

“They have been chewed up, spit out and stepped on,” he said. 

“You have got to see it to believe it, Maria,” he said, addressing host Maria Bartiromo. “And I have seen a lot of hurricanes and a lot of aftermath.”

The Louisiana senator said he wanted President Trump to see the damage caused by the natural disaster in person. Trump visited both Louisiana and Texas on Saturday to survey the aftermath of the storm that killed at least 14 people.  

“I wanted him to see it firsthand what we’re up against,” Kennedy said. “This is going to be a multi-year recovery, and we will recover.”

“The people of Louisiana are — we’re tough as a boot,” he continued. “But I don’t want anybody to think, well, this is just rake a few leaves, and we’re back to normal. This is going to take a while.”

Kennedy said he, other congressional representatives and Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) met with the president and requested additional help with the Louisiana National Guard as 400,000 businesses and homes are left without water or electricity. 

“Our entire backbone of our power system is down,” he said. “We have got to rebuild the backbone before we can even think about getting electricity to people. And we’re already under a phase two lockdown from the coronavirus.

Hurricane Laura made landfall on Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane and struck near the Louisiana-Texas border.