HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Cajun Navy Ground Force has been on the ground in southeast Texas, helping people recover from last week’s severe flooding.

The rescue and relief organization is based in Lafayette, and ground force president Rob Gaudet said deploying to Houston was a no-brainer, especially considering the proximity.

The floodwaters have receded in several areas, but this week, Gaudet said his team was able to help deliver insulin to a man in a neighborhood that was still cut off by high water.

Gaudet also stressed the importance of documenting the damage from a flood as early as possible. From there, people need to prepare for a long cleanup journey.

“It takes years to recover, and it’s so important for people to know that and the need for assistance is tremendous,” he said.

The Cajun Navy Ground Force will stay in southeast Texas as long as there’s a need and they have the resources necessary to meet it.

For updates on this story, follow Briana Conner on Facebook, X and Instagram.

Louisiana is ranked last – again – in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2024 Best States report, which for the second consecutive year cited an atmosphere of violent crime, poisonous industrial pollution, poverty and a dwindling population among the state’s hardships.

Utah was ranked as the top state. Texas was No. 29 as Louisiana’s highest-ranking contiguous neighbor, while Mississippi ranked No. 48 and Arkansas No. 47.

The U.S. News report ranked Louisiana in the following categories: crime/corrections, 50; economy, 49; education, 47; fiscal stability, 41; healthcare, 46; infrastructure, 49; natural environment, 49; and opportunity, 44.

Among the most alarming statistics:

∎ Residents suffer 629 violent crimes per 100,000 people, 65% higher than the national average.

∎ Louisiana has a net migration of negative 0.6%, while the average state is attracting 0.3% more population.

∎ Preventable hospital admissions are 27% higher in Louisiana than the national average, while nearly half of the population – 40% – is obese.

∎ Nearly one-third of Louisiana’s roads – 29% – are in poor condition compared to 18% nationwide. The state is 49th in Internet access.

∎ Louisiana factories release 3,134 pounds of industrial toxins per square mile compared to a national average of 937.

It’s the latest in a series of studies listing Louisiana as the worst or among the worst states in key quality of life areas.

About one in five Louisianians live in poverty.

Louisiana women in particular face bleak circumstances on nearly every front, from poverty to life expectancy to education, according to a study released earlier this year.

The WalletHub study ranked Louisiana 50th among states and the District of Columbia as best places for women, ahead of only Oklahoma.

Last spring a WalletHub study ranked Louisiana as the worst state in America for working mothers, with data showing moms here are shortchanged on everything from pay to childcare.

And last year’s Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Louisiana 49th for child well-being.

More: Louisiana rejects rape, incest abortion exceptions for pregnant children, keeps strict ban

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Louisiana lawmakers have less than a month to come up with a new congressional map or a panel of judges will draw it for them.

That mandate comes from a three-person panel of federal appellate judges who threw out the legislature’s newest map just last week.

Time is short because district lines need to be set in time for fall congressional elections.

The panel of judges gave state lawmakers until June 3 to present an acceptable congressional map, or have one imposed on them instead.

The panel last week rejected a map passed during a January special legislative session, which would have created Louisiana’s second Black-majority district. The panel found by a 2-1 vote that race was the predominant factor in that map’s boundaries, which the judges said violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Meanwhile, the judges will be making their own remedial plan, in case the lawmakers fail to act in time.

A spokesperson for Secretary of State Nancy Landry, however, said the June 3 deadline is too lax. The office said May 15 is its hard deadline to implement a map for the November election ballots.

Attorney General Liz Murrill said the state is appealing to the US Supreme Court to have the rejected map reinstated.

“Today, three federal judges who never spent a day running an election have ignored uncontradicted testimony that we need a map by May 15, and once again turned Louisiana’s congressional elections upside down,” Murrill said in a statement released Tuesday. “That’s on the tails of another federal judge, the 5th Circuit, and the Supreme Court doing it in the last round of congressional elections.

“At a time when concerns about election integrity are higher than ever, this ruling threatens the ability of the Secretary of State to conduct a stable and fair election in a presidential election year in Louisiana. We will be heading this week to the US Supreme Court.”

Davante Lewis, the Public Service Commissioner for the 3rd district of Louisiana, said Murrill’s statement is nonsensical and accused the AG of using bombastic language.

Lewis said the court gave the secretary of state and the state an opportunity Monday night to file briefs explaining their concerns about moving the deadline past the original date of May 15. However, he said the judges felt their testimony was not compelling, because both had mentioned in other cases they could have a map as late as May or early June.

Lewis said Louisiana will have a map in place before November. But what that map looks like is still up in the air.

“Everyone wants a map that is fair and just to the people of Louisiana, that adequately represents the population and gives every Louisianan the opportunity to have a member of congress of their choosing,” Lewis said.

“How you get there varies. There are multiple ways you can get there. I think what we have to do at this moment is keep our eyes on the prize that a fair map is needed. And, whatever the courts do, that they ensure that all Louisianans are fairly represented and that this legal strategy and legal confusion does not end in another election of people not having their voices adequately represented in Washington DC.”

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