The federal government has already allocated $1.6 billion to Louisiana to aid in recovery from the August flood. Today, the Restore Louisiana Task Force approved the Governor’s plan on how to spend it.
A large majority of the federal recovery money -- $1.3 billion -- will be spent on home repairs.
The focus is on over 36-thousand homes that took on major damage and were not covered by flood insurance.
Pat Forbes, Executive Director of Office of Community Development, explained that federal rules require 70% of the funding be directed towards people with low-to-moderate income. They’ll receive the full cost to repair their homes.
“Until we’ve fully met the needs of low-to-moderate income people in the state, impacted by the floods, we can’t go spend money on other things,” Forbes said.
The task force also approved a measure allowing the state to seek a waiver, instead dedicating 50% of the money for low-to-moderate income households.
Governor Edwards administration continued to emphasize that $1.6 billion is not enough for the state to fully recover. Edwards will make several more trips to Washington, D.C. to request another $2 billion in recovery funding.
This report has been brought to you by the Louisiana Public Radio Partnership, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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