"I want to thank Mr. Trump for coming to Louisiana," Landrieu said on CNN's "Wolf," adding that she thought the visit was helpful for the devastation-wracked state.

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Landrieu said she thought Gov. John Bel Edwards' (D) "admonition" that Trump not come to the state for a photo-op "is a good one."

Still, Landrieu said, the GOP presidential nominee "brought attention to our state, and we need that now because this disaster ... is far larger than people can appreciate on television."

"This was a horrible rain event," Landrieu said.

Landrieu, who is now an adviser at a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, served for three terms in the Senate before losing her 2014 reelection bid to Republican Bill Cassidy.

Bel Edwards also said he didn't want President Obama to visit for at least a week or two because he didn't want to divert resources to road closures and security detail.