BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards has bumped up his request for federal disaster aid to rebuild after August flooding ravaged south Louisiana, seeking $4 billion in additional assistance.

The Democratic governor Friday released a letter he sent to President Barack Obama with the request, boosted from an earlier ask for $2.8 billion. Congress would have to approve the spending. Edwards is hoping the Obama administration will advocate for it.

Edwards praised the federal response, but said updated damage estimates drove up the price tag of his request. The money would pay for rebuilding after the August flood and an earlier March flood that struck north Louisiana.

Additional aid would come on top of the $438 million disaster recovery grant Louisiana received from Congress and traditional FEMA grants and disaster recovery loans.