La. officials look to D.C. for disaster aid

While St. Mary Parish people continue to do what they can for the victims of Hurricane Ida, state and federal officials are pushing for more federal help.
On Monday, Gov. John Bel Edwards went to Washington to meet with Louisiana’s congressional delegation “to impress upon them the urgent need for federal assistance.”
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., returned to Grand Isle on Friday to examine hurricane damage and to urge Washington to provide more help.
Meanwhile, local relief efforts continue.
Patterson officials, for example, went to Grand Isle and Golden Meadow on Saturday to deliver supplies donated locally and by people from Katy, Texas, Indiana and Florida.
Patterson Outreach fed more than 80 evacuees fried chicken, chili beans and more courtesy of Ward 5 Con-stable James P. Carinhas, Zion Chapel AME Pastor Richelle Lewis Castine, Debra Washington and Lady Renee Mabile.
Berwick continues to operate a shelter at the Civic Center. And the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Morgan City Police Department have made multiple trips east to bring supplies and assistance to fellow law enforcement officers.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency had approved more than 439,000 applications for disaster aid and distributed more than $441 million to hurricane victims as of Sunday, the agency reported.
The U.S. Small Business Administration also approved 2,380 low-interest loans to businesses, homeowners and renters for a total of $102 million.
In Washington, Edwards pointed to an unprecedented string of natural disasters that began long before Ida.
They include hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta last year, a damaging freeze and spring flooding.
“Amidst these natural disasters, Louisiana fought a pandemic which has sickened and killed thousands of our citizens and stymied economic growth,” Edwards wrote in a letter detailing the recent disasters. “As you know, there is an urgent need to provide immediate relief to our Louisiana families, businesses and individuals who have been impacted, and the help of the federal government is absolutely critical.”
Based on recent experience, unmet housing needs related to Hurricane Ida are likely to cost $2.5 billion, plus another $2.2 billion for public assistance, requiring $226 million in state and local matching funds.
“Using FEMA’s data for Individual Assistance for Laura/Delta/Zeta, and taking insurance and other available funding sources into account, we estimate the unmet housing needs of renters and homeowners to be over $900 million,” Edwards wrote.
“In addition, the burden on state and local governments to pay the match on FEMA’s Public Assistance grants from these storms will be more that $130 million. There is also an estimated loss to businesses of $2 billion, along with crop and timber losses of over $2 billion.”
The governor is seeking:
—Expansion of Direct Repair Authority under Individual Assistance.
—Resetting FEMA authority to grant funding to states to implement housing programs.
—Flexibility in Match for Public Assistance.
—Extension of Disaster Recovery Reform Act Duplication of Benefit Flexibility.
—Extension of Disa-ster Recovery Reform Act Relief from Excessive Reductions Based upon Flood Insurance for Campuses.
—Allowance for HUD to waive the current federal site-specific Environment Review Requirement for single family home rehabilitation.
Cassidy returned from his tour of Grand Isle to say that “areas of the island with breakwaters, beach restoration, and housing built to code survived. Those areas of the island without those things did extremely poorly. We have to build resiliency.”
On Wednesday, Cassidy spoke on the Senate floor in favor of disaster supplemental aid and the Infrastructure Inves-tment and Jobs Act. Cassidy called for disaster supplemental relief for those affected by Hurricane Ida, the fifth-most powerful storm to ever hit the United States.
He called for assistance for those affected by the hurricanes of 2020, including Hurricanes Laura and Delta. He also urged Congress to prepare for future hurricanes by supporting the infrastructure bill.
Cassidy had met with President Joe Biden on Sept. 3 in St. John Parish and asked him to support disaster supplemental aid for those affected by the hurricanes of 2020. The White House Budget Office later issued a formal request asking Congress for that sup-port.
Cassidy and the Louisiana Congressional Delegation pushed to add Hurricane Ida to the list of natural disasters from which Louisiana needs assistance.
Before Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana, Cassidy joined the Louisiana Congressional Delegation to request a Major Disaster Declaration for Hurricane Ida, a request Biden granted.
In January, Louisiana requested $3 billion to address unmet recovery needs after Hurricane Laura. Cassidy and other members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation have previously called on Congress to support disaster relief for southwest Louisiana.
On Sept. 2, they added Hurricane Ida to the list of hurricanes from which Louisiana needs help recovering.