86 thousand homes in Louisiana had damage from flooding last year, and state recovery officials are working to distribute federal recovery dollars to flood victims. In order to find out who flooded and how badly, the state set up a survey; only 31 thousand households have filled it out.
The Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program helped the neediest people first - like the low income, elderly and disabled. Construction is already underway for many of those properties. Now it’s expanding eligibility in the hopes of getting money out to more people. The program is accepting applications for households - regardless of income - across the ten parishes hit hardest by the floods.
WWNO's Jessica Rosgaard sat down with Pat Forbes, Executive Director of the Office of Community Development, to get an update on the recovery efforts.
Officials urge everyone who had damage from the flood to fill out the survey, online at restore.la.gov, over the phone by calling 866-735-2001, or at one of four Homeowner Assistance Centers in Baton Rouge, Hammond, Lafayette, and Monroe.
The Louisiana Public Radio Partnership is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.