BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Thursday that he sent a letter to President Donald Trump requesting a Major Disaster Declaration for Louisiana due to the impact of Hurricane Barry last month.

Barry made landfall as the state was already dealing with elevated river levels and flooding.

“Federal assistance is necessary to supplement the efforts of our local and state agencies,” Edwards said. "While the state was ready for this dangerous system, the costs to the state and our local governments, disaster relief organizations and compensation by insurance for disaster-related losses are a tremendous burden. We are optimistic President Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will understand why this request is necessary.”

Edwards said the declaration would provide assistance for activities involved in "protection of life and property, removal of debris and the repair, restoration, and replacement of damaged facilities." The process for requesting such a declaration requires a more detailed assessment of impacts and costs incurred in all of the parishes included in the request than the emergency declaration issued by Trump during the event.

Edwards is requesting public assistance in the following parishes:

(Categories A-B) for Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. John the Baptist, Tangipahoa and West Feliciana parishes. Categories A and B involve debris removal and emergency protective measures.

(Categories A-G) for Allen, Iberia, Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. Mary, Terrebonne and Vermilion parishes. Categories A-G involve debris removal, emergency  protective measures and permanent work on infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water control facilities, buildings, equipment, utilities and parks.

Click here to read the full letter.