Taylor Swift donates $1 million to Louisiana flood victims

Taylor Swift has opened her wallet to the tune of $1 million to assist victims of severe flooding in Louisiana.

The “Shake It Off” singer played the first two dates of her current world tour in that state’s Bossier City and Baton Rouge.

“We began the 1989 World Tour in Louisiana, and the wonderful fans there made us feel completely at home,” Swift told the Associated Press in an exclusive statement Tuesday. “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.”

Thirteen people have died and tens of thousands evacuated or have had to be rescued after more than 20 inches of rain fell in three days. The Red Cross said the flooding was likely the worst natural disaster in the U.S. since Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast in 2012.

“We’ve been through Hurricane Gustav, Katrina, Isaac and Rita, but this without a doubt is the roughest we’ve ever had in this parish,” Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard told The Times.

Though recent headlines have focused on the “Shake It Off” singer’s love life and feud with Kanye West, Swift has been known over the years to drop big bucks to help others. Among the assists: a $4-million pledge in 2013 to Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame for a music education center, a $100,000 Red Cross donation for victims of the 2008 flooding in Iowa, $15,000 in 2015 to a Texas firefighter who wound up saving his own family when he responded to a car crash and $50,000 in 2015 to help the cancer-stricken nephew of one of her dancers.

Meanwhile, despite its severity, the flooding in Louisiana seems to be taking a back seat, news-wise, to other stories. “You have the Olympics, you got the election,” said Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, speaking to Louisianans. “If you look at the national news, you’re probably on the third or fourth page. FEMA understands this is a very large disaster impacting tens of thousands of people. Regardless of what it may be getting in the national coverage, we know there has been a significant impact here in Louisiana.”

Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ.

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Louisiana town was flooded six months ago. Now the water is back, even higher, and rescues continue