USA Today
Iowa, La., Mayor Margo Racca, left, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco accept a check from Department of Housing and Urban Development deputy secretary Roy Bernardi Tuesday. The check is to help fund the state’s “Road Home” program.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The federal government will pay $4.2 billion into a program to help Louisiana residents rebuild or sell houses severely damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, officials said Tuesday.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development also announced it would provide $1 billion for hurricane-related housing needs in Mississippi, Texas, Alabama and Florida, and called on those states to apply for the additional money.
Louisiana‘s $4.2 billion will be added to federal allocations the state had already received to fully fund its more-than-$9 billion “Road Home” program for hurricane recovery.
“It was clear to me that Louisiana desperately needs this additional funding to implement its plans to bring its citizens back home,” Deputy Secretary Roy Bernardi said in a joint federal and state press release. “HUD will work very closely with Gov. Blanco and the Louisiana Recovery Authority to help pave the road home for thousands of residents desperate to rebuild their own lives.”
Bernardi planned to announced the grants at an afternoon briefing with Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco in New Orleans.
The “Road Home” program is intended to provide Louisiana residents up to $150,000 to rebuild or sell houses severely damaged by the storms, using grants to cover repair costs above what was covered by insurance policies and FEMA grants.
About 123,000 homeowners and owners of about 80,000 apartments are eligible for the program, state officials have said. About 90,000 have already signed up, officials said.
Blanco has said that the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which oversees the program, expects eligible homeowners to begin getting checks by late summer.
“Never before in American history has any state been forced to rebuild so many homes so quickly,” Blanco said. “This $4.2 billion means homeowners have real options — options to repair, rebuild or sell their homes.”
Apartment shortages, combined with increasing insurance premiums for people who own buildings in areas hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29 or Rita on Sept. 24, have also created hardships with rents rising 20% or more in many cases.
For people who sell their property and can demonstrate continued permanent residence in the state, the grants cover the difference between a home’s pre-storm value and post-storm insurance settlements and FEMA grants.
Owners who take the “sell” option and have moved out of Louisiana state can only get 60% of their home’s pre-storm value.