BATON ROUGE, LA. – Crossover pop icon Taylor Swift has donated $1 million to help Louisiana flooding victims, who have been suffering from Hurricane Katrina-like flooding in the state’s capital of Baton Rouge and neighboring parishes.
“We began The 1989 World Tour in Louisiana, and the wonderful fans there made us feel completely at home,” Swift told CNN in a statement. “The fact that so many people in Louisiana have been forced out of their own homes this week is heartbreaking. I encourage those who can to help out and send your love and prayers their way during this devastating time.”
More than 20,000 Louisiana residents have been rescued and thus displaced from the unprecedented flooding, leaving at least 11 people killed in the process.
While weather has calmed down in the flooded regions of the state, waters are still pouring in and even rising in some areas.
As Breitbart Texas reported, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and his family had to be evacuated from the governor’s mansion due to flooding in the basement and power-outages.
Gov. Edwards declared a state of emergency within the first couple of days of flooding and asked that residents remain cautious about their surroundings.
“I’m still asking people to be patient,” Edwards told the Associated Press. “Don’t get out and sightsee. Even when the weather is better, it’s not safe.”
Some 40,000 homes have been flooded across the state due to the historic natural disaster, reminding many residents of the country’s most destructive disaster in history, Hurricane Katrina, which claimed the lives of over 1,500 people.
A total of 20 Louisiana parishes have now been declared as emergency disaster areas, with federal aid already being directed to flood victims to help with recovery and emergency housing.
John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.