Louisiana newspaper say 'glad' Obama has now decided to visit flood damage, after vacation is over

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President Obama to visit flood-ravaged Louisiana

Correspondent Kevin Corke reports from Martha's Vineyard

The editor of the major Louisiana newspaper that urged President Obama to cut short his summer vacation to see the devastating flooding that has damaged roughly 40,000 home said Friday he’s pleased that the president will visit the state.

“Our feeling is that this is a crisis that calls for presidential leadership, and we're glad to see the president is coming,” Advocate Editor Peter Kovacs told Fox News’ “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.” “The magnitude of the devastation is something you really have to come here to see.”

An editorial in the newspaper, the largest in Louisiana, on Thursday asked that Obama visit the state before his vacation ends Sunday in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., saying the president should “back his bags now” and leave the “playground for the posh and well connected.”

However, Obama is scheduled to visit Louisiana on Tuesday, the White House said Friday.

Earlier that day, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and running-mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence toured the flood damage, handed out supplies and vowed to help “rebuild.”

“We are not here to say we think the president should have come,” Kovacs also told Fox News. “We are glad he is coming. We are not here to say who got here first. We need all these leaders here.”

Roughly 70,000 people have reportedly registered for individual assistance, and roughly 9,000 have filed flood insurance claims in Baton Rouge and other parts of Louisiana, for which Obama has declared a state of emergency.

Thirteen people have died as a result of the flooding.

While, the federal response has largely received high marks, Kovacs also argued that the federal government “in many ways” told residents in the impacted areas previously that they didn’t need to buy flood insurance and is now telling them that they are not going to be helped because they didn't have flood insurance.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.