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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has committed nearly $595 million for recovery needs related to hurricanes Laura and Delta, two storms that devastated southwest Louisiana last year.

Hurricane Laura, a category 4 storm that tied the state’s strongest hurricane on record, made landfall Aug. 27, 2020. Hurricane Delta was a record tying fourth named storm to hit Louisiana when it made landfall last October. Areas of the southwest region have struggled to recover ever since.

A bipartisan effort from the state’s congressional delegation and Gov. John Bel Edwards yielded numerous attempts to secure supplemental disaster relief from the Biden administration, but aid has arrived only recently, and, according to Edwards, it’s not enough.

Edwards thanked Louisiana’s congressional delegation in a news release and said the HUD funding is a step in the right direction.

“However, we don’t think the allocation for Hurricanes Laura and Delta is adequate for a full, sustainable recovery of Southwest Louisiana and the other impacted areas of the state, especially when it comes to housing," Edwards said. "We will continue to work with our delegation and the White House to get the additional money we need.”

The funding comes from a national natural disaster relief package that was included in a congressional stopgap budget bill last month. Previously, supplemental aid would have required an approval from President Joe Biden to initiate a congressional appropriation for southwest Louisiana.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, urged Biden to provide supplemental disaster aid in May and joined the state’s congressional delegation in July in urging the Office of Management and Budget, which produces the president’s budget, to prioritize southwest Louisiana’s recovery needs.

Kennedy pegged the funding amount at $1.1 billion – nearly twice the HUD allocation – when he proposed an amendment to a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the Senate in August, though the amendment was blocked.

Kennedy said Tuesday, “Louisianians still need help rebuilding from Hurricanes Laura and Delta, and some help is here. This $595M in community development block grants is going to fund crucial recovery efforts in our state.”

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., echoed the sentiment, saying, “It has been over a year since Louisiana was hammered by Hurricane Laura, and this relief has taken far too long. This funding is a welcome first step, but there is more work to be done to return southwest Louisiana to wholeness.”

The Louisiana Office of Community Development will receive the $595 million allocation as a HUD community development block grant. Edwards said he is working with local communities to develop a comprehensive plan.

“HUD has not yet published the rules that govern this allocation, but as soon as they do we will submit our plan for investing these funds into recovery from the hurricanes that devastated our state more than a year ago,” Edwards said.

Edwards also said he is expecting a “down payment” in supplemental aid for damage caused by Hurricane Ida, a category 4 storm that slammed into southeast Louisiana on Aug. 29, almost exactly one year after Laura. No supplemental aid has been allocated, he said.

Louisiana’s congressional delegation sent a letter to Biden nearly two months ago, emphasizing the Ida’s destruction and dangerous conditions. The letter cited $10 billion in aid occurring only four days after Hurricane Katrina similarly devastated southeast Louisiana in August 2005.

Team Stansbury, right in white shirts, won the Atchafalaya Golf Association Cup matches Oct. 9-10 over Team Streety by 1 point. The event was held at The Atchafalaya at Idlewild golf course near Patterson.

Submitted Photo

(Editor’s note: The charges listed here and the narratives that go with them are provided by the police agencies that made the arrests. Guilt or innocence has not been determined in court.)

Two men face drug charges after arrests Tuesday and Wednesday by Morgan City police, including one suspect who is also accused of drunken driving.

Morgan City
Police Chief James F. Blair reported that the Morgan City Police Department responded to 52 calls for service within the last 24-hour reporting period and made these arrests:
—Jerry Charles Jr., 55, Mike Drive, Patterson, was arrested at 4:16 p.m. Tuesday on charges of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute alprazolam, resisting an officer and transactions involving proceeds from controlled dangerous substance activity.
—Nilo N. Johnson Jr., 56, Grand Caillou Road, Houma, was arrested on 12:34 a.m. Wednesday on charges of driving while intoxicated (first offense), possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and open container in a motor vehicle.—Trevor M. Hebert, 26, Teche Road, Morgan City, was arrested at 8 a.m. Tues-day on a warrant alleging violation of a protective order.
—Page John Pennison, 27, Patureau Drive, Morgan City, was arrested at 4:17 p.m. Tuesday on charges of reckless operation of a motor vehicle and flight from an officer.
—Jessie Cephur Davis, 29, Duke Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 7:52 p.m. Tuesday on a 6th Ward Morgan City Court warrant alleging 14 counts of failure to appear to pay fine Nov. 10.
—Joshua Pisani, 31, Gen. Patton Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 8:35 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of disturbing the peace.
—Kerry Sons Jr., 30, La. 70, Morgan City, was arrest-ed at 8:43 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of disturbing the peace (fighting).
—Javier Castro, 33, La. 70, Morgan City, was arrested at 9:06 p.m. Tuesday on a 6th Ward Morgan City Court warrant alleging four counts of failure to appear to pay fine March 19, 2019.
—Jamie Francois, 30, Fifth Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 9:57 p.m. Tuesday on charges of driving under suspension and improper lane usage, and on a 6th Ward Morgan City Court warrant alleging no driver’s license.

St. Mary
Parish Sheriff Blaise Smith advised that over the last 24-hour reporting period, the Sheriff’s Office responded to 35 complaints and made these arrests:
—Keiarius Lakei Gordon, 32, Franklin, was arrested at 6:34 a.m. Tuesday on charges of driver must be licensed, no proof insurance, no taillights, and switched or stolen license plate.
Gordon was released on a summons to appear Jan. 4.
—Hayward Aubre Verdun Jr., 62, Houston, was arrested on 9:01 a.m. Tuesday on charges of no insurance and failure to obey traffic control. Verdun was released on a summons to appear Jan. 4.
—Tajae Purnell Taylor, 18, Patterson, was arrested at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday on charges of disturbing the peace (fighting) and battery of a school teacher. Taylor was released on a $6,000 bond.
—Ke’breyana Jamal Jones, 29, Franklin, was arrested at 2:24 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of criminal damage to property. Jones was re-leased on a summons to appear Jan. 4.
—Larry Aucoin, 57, Amelia, was arrested at 3:32 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of burning trash in a residential area prohibited. Aucoin was released on a summons to appear Jan. 4.
—Tysie Marie Rink, 43, Patterson, was arrested on at 9:41 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant alleging unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, simple battery and criminal damage to property-simple. Rink was released on a $7,000 bond.

Franklin
Police Chief Morris Beverly reported that the Franklin Police Department responded to 12 complaints over the past 24 hours and made these arrests:
—Tyrone Freeman, 52, Franklin, was arrested at 9:38 a.m. Tuesday on a charge of felony theft and a warrant dated Aug. 29 alleg-ing theft and criminal tres-passing.
Freeman was additionally arrested on 11 warrants for 16th Judicial District Court alleging failure to appear on multiple charges. Freeman was booked, processed and transported to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center.
—Heather Theriot, 44, Third Street, Franklin, was arrested at 9:56 a.m. Tuesday on a warrant for 16th Judicial District Court alleging failure to appear on the charges of possession of Schedule III narcotics and possession of marijuana. Theriot was booked, pro-cessed and held on a $3,500.00 bond.

Morgan City officials want to know what you think about Morgan City — what you believe it is now, and what it could be.
The city government has a website, mymorgancity.com, that contains a survey, part of what Mayor Lee Dragna is calling a rebranding of the city.
The survey, which takes less than five minutes to complete, contains questions about which activities participants associate with Morgan City: shopping, entertainment events, watersports and the like.
It also asks what you’d like in Morgan City, and what you think the city needs: more retail, more entertainment business, more industrial.
And it asks how you see the city, and what sort of emotional response does the thought of Morgan City evoke.
In a video posted on Facebook, Dragna said the survey, which will be available until Nov. 6, had drawn more than 400 responses by the weekend. He’s hoping for 2,000-3,000.
“We really need to gauge what’s happening,” Dragna said.
He also hopes more men will take the survey. Seventy-eight percent of the first 400 respondents were women.
And a significant number of the early respondents live outside Morgan City.
“They’re looking at Morgan City,” Dragna said. “This is huge.”
With so much federal and other funding available — Dragna called it a trillion in “free money” — it’s important to focus efforts on what Morgan City needs, he said.
“We’re going to get our fair share, but we want to spend it the right way,” the mayor said.
The mymorgancity.com survey is one of two rebranding efforts underway.
The Cajun Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau has hired Chandler Thinks, a Tennessee company that has worked with Louisiana tourism boards, to take a look at the St. Mary brand from a tourism point of view.
Cajun Coast is trying to identify people St. Mary can attract as tourists and how to reach them with advertising, including social media.
A meeting Oct. 20 at the Patterson Area Civic Center drew about 20 people, and more will be coming in January.