BATON ROUGE, La. – Free disaster-related legal advice is available to low-income Louisiana flood survivors through a partnership among the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Louisiana Civil Justice Center, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).Low-income survivors facing legal issues may call the Legal Services hotline, 800-310-7029, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Voice mail is available 24/7 and messages are generally returned the next business day. Examples of legal assistance available include:Assistance with securing FEMA and other benefits available to...

BATON ROUGE, La. – A disaster recovery center is opening Wednesday, August 31, in East Baton Rouge Parish to assist Louisiana flood survivors. The center is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, until further notice.The disaster recovery center is operating at the following address and hours: East Baton Rouge Parish Location: Celtic Studios10000 Celtic Drive Baton Rouge, LA 70809Hours:      8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Monday through Sunday)Survivors may locate other centers near them by visiting fema.gov/disaster-recovery-  centers, calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362, or downloading the FEMA mobile...

AUSTIN, Texas—More than 22,000 Texans battered by flooding over the last two years settled claims with the National Flood Insurance Program for over $1 billion, disaster recovery officials said today.Severe storms and flooding over the last two years resulted in six federal disaster declarations in Texas, affecting more than half of the state’s 254 counties, many on multiple occasions. Residents are still picking up the pieces from flood-related disaster declarations in March, April and May-June this year.About 100,000 individuals and families registered with FEMA for federal assistance during the 2015-2016 recovery....

Labor Day weekend is a time for a lot of people to head out on fun and relaxing vacations and celebrate the last “official” days of summer. Here, it’s historically a time we find ourselves at our busiest. Labor Day lies right smack dab in the middle of peak hurricane season—and if you’re like us and have been following the forecasts, you might know a little bit about what’s on our radars. Right now, we’re following several different storms forecast to hit two vastly different areas: the Big Island of...

BATON ROUGE, La. — Returning to school in late August brings a sense of routine to most children across the country. But in Louisiana there are many young people whose lives are far from normal. They are still living the aftermath of storms and widespread floods that drove tens of thousands from their homes and left many living with relatives, or in hotels or shelters.Some schools that were battered by the storms are not able to open on time, so even students whose homes were not affected are unable to resume...