BATON ROUGE - President Donald Trump approved Governor John Bel Edwards' request for a major disaster declaration for 23 parishes.

The declaration will bring FEMA aid to people and communities affected by Hurricane Laura which made landfall early Thursday morning. Edwards requested all categories of FEMA Public Assistance and FEMA Individual Assistance for 23 parishes that were directly affected by Laura. He also asked for statewide assistance to address the cost of parishes' preparations and response.

“I appreciate President Trump’s quick action on my request for a Major Disaster Declaration, which will pave the way for getting aid to individuals and communities impacted by Hurricane Laura in Louisiana. The devastation and damage stretch from Southwest Louisiana all the way through North Louisiana, with more than a half a million power outages remaining, tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes and, sadly, at least 10 lives lost," Edwards said.

Hurricane laura is the fifth strongest storm to in the recorded history of the United States to make landfall. According to the governor it is all the first in memory to maintain major hurricane strength as it traveled through Louisiana.

Edwards declared a state of emergency on August 21 ahead of Hurricane Marco while the state is still dealing with the effects of the coronavirus.

As of Friday morning, there are more than 543,000 power outages across the entire state. An additional 209,000 are without water and thousands more have been displaced from their homes.