BATON ROUGE - The Federal Emergency Management Agency has responded to Governor John Bel Edwards' request for federal aid for five parishes following February's tornadoes.

In a letter released Wednesday, FEMA informed the governor it authorized individual assistance for both Livingston and Orleans parishes, as well as hazard mitigation statewide. 

The letter goes on to say that FEMA will not provide assistance to Ascension, St. James and St. Tammany parishes. The agency says this decision was a result of joint federal, state, and local government preliminary damage assessments.

FEMA has also determined the damge sustained by these parishes was not of the severity or magnitude to warrant designation of the Public Assistance program.

The governor intends to appeal this decision in the next 30 days.