BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana has been approved for more than $1 billion in federal disaster assistance, long-term disaster loans and flood-insurance claims since Hurricane Laura made landfall in late August and Hurricane Delta in mid-October.
As of Jan. 20, FEMA has approved housing grants to individuals and families totaling $248 million. Housing Assistance grants for repairs to primary residences or for rental of temporary housing came to more than $174 million. Other Needs Assistance grants reached more than $74 million.
More than 42,526 survivors have received $70 million in rental assistance; 17,461 survivors have received $96 million for home repairs. Many survivors have been housed in temporary shelters, including hotels, motels, dormitories or other types of housing.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved $627 million in long-term, low-interest disaster loans for homeowners and renters to cover repairs to homes damaged by the two hurricanes and loss of essential personal property and to small businesses.
Over $110 million has been paid in flood claims to 3,249 policyholders by the National Flood Insurance Program.
FEMA’s Public Assistance Program has already obligated $66.7 million in hurricane-damage assistance to state and local governmental entities as well as certain nonprofits for emergency protective measures, debris removal and rebuilding of parks and recreational facilities. The PA program covers at least 75% of the cost of post-hurricane emergency and protective measures such as sandbagging, bridge and road repairs, raising downed powerlines, and removal of debris. More than 20.5 million cubic yards of debris have been picked up for Laura and Delta combined.
There are over 581 eligible PA applicants throughout the designated parishes. Projects will be developed over the next several months, outlining a detailed scope of work and cost estimates.
FEMA mission-assigned the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) to install blue roofs free of charge to survivors on nearly 13,000 storm-damaged homes at a cost of approximately $48 million.
For the latest information on Hurricane Laura, visit fema.gov/disaster/4559. Or, for Hurricane Delta, visit fema.gov/disaster/4570. Follow the FEMA Region 6 Twitter account at twitter.com/FEMARegion6.
