One year ago, communities across southeast Louisiana experienced the devastating effects of Hurricane Ida. Supported by state, local and volunteer efforts, communities have begun the long process of recovery. FEMA continues its work of distributing aid equitably, helping to house survivors, and assisting in infrastructure recovery across the 25 disaster-declared parishes. One step at a time, Louisianans are rebuilding.
Individual Assistance
Since Hurricane Ida struck, 564,544 applications have been approved, putting more than $1.2 billion in the hands of survivors. Individual Assistance grants helped Louisianans clean up their homes, pay their bills, repair their vehicles, get reimbursed for generators, find temporary places to live, and much, much more.
- 52,176 households received grants totaling more than $363 million for home repairs (not covered by insurance)
- 194,184 households (49,760 owners and 144,424 renters) received temporary rental assistance, totaling more than $323 million.
- 735,968 households received grants for other disaster-related needs, totaling more than $480 million.
Disaster Loans
The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved more than 26,000 applications for low-interest disaster loans totaling more than $1.3 billion.
- 24,526 home loans approved for nearly $1.2 billion
- 1,723 business loans approved for more than $114 million
Voluntary Agency Liaisons
Voluntary Agency Liaisons (VALs) serve as an important link between FEMA programs and community partners. They work to foster relationships among government, nonprofit, faith-based and community partners. They identify gaps in service and support addressing disaster-caused unmet needs.
- VALs made 2,280 referrals for the unmet needs of Hurricane Ida survivors. Of these, 2,148 went to appropriate local non-profit organizations.
- More than 350 nonprofit and faith-based organizations have supported Hurricane Ida survivors.
- Volunteers have repaired or rebuilt 682 homes, with 461 currently awaiting completion.
Equity Initiatives
- Responding to a request from Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, a state-federal task force looked for ways to change state procurement practices to increase access to recovery contracts for small and minority- owned businesses. This group looked at the data and recommended targeted outreach in affected communities. The task force continues to meet as they revise recommendations for new procurement practices.
- Additional outreach was conducted to engage local faith-based leaders, providing them information on resources available in their recovery. As a result, the number of requests for Public Assistance went from 50 in February 2022 to 119 in April, a 58 percent increase.
- In June 2022, more than 200 participants from over a dozen agencies and community organizations came together to discuss topics such as human trafficking, procurement equity and using data to drive equitable recovery.
Transitional Sheltering
The Transitional Sheltering Assistance program ended on Aug. 20 after providing temporary, short-term hotel stays for eligible households when other sheltering options were not available, offering a springboard to permanent post- disaster housing.
- 22,575 households have used the program and checked out of their hotels
- That is a cumulative total of 1,053,736 room nights occupied in 1,796 hotels
Direct Temporary Housing
The Direct Housing program temporarily provides travel trailers, manufactured homes, and occasionally leased units to eligible survivors. The program is operating in 10 parishes: Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Plaquemines, St.
Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, Tangipahoa, and Terrebonne. It runs for 18 months from the date the disaster was declared on Aug. 29, 2021.
- 3,105 households are in temporary housing units as of Aug. 23
- 368 households have moved out
- 3,473 households in total benefitted from the program through Aug. 23
Hazard Mitigation
- Community Education and Outreach specialists counseled 22,911 Louisianans on how to make their homes safer and stronger.
- 19,831 interactions at home improvement and hardware stores
- 2,174 discussions at Disaster Recovery Centers
- 906 helpline calls answered
- 20,417 individual visits to preparedness web pages in three languages:
- English: 10,873 (https://fema.connectsolutions.com/lamit)
- Spanish: 6,007 (https://fema.connectsolutions.com/la-es-mit/)
- Vietnamese: 3,537 (https://fema.connectsolutions.com/la-vie-mit/)
- 10 presentations in five parishes (Iberia, Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, and Washington) by the Mitigation In Action Strike Team, helping local officials understand how mitigation programs can help their communities rebuild resiliently.
National Flood Insurance Program
- 14,540 claims paid, totaling more than $655 million.
Public Assistance
The Public Assistance program provides aid to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and certain types of private non-profit organizations, impacted by federally declared disasters.
- More than $879 million obligated for 948 projects
- More than $554 million for emergency protective measures
- More than $295 million for debris removal
- More than $689,000 for roads and bridges
- More than $831,000 for water control facilities
- More than $3 million for buildings and equipment
- More than $1 million for utilities
- More than $9 million for parks and recreation
Interagency Recovery Coordination
- More than 900 Louisianans gained access to housing resources and social service support agencies, with 360 signing up for disaster case management, at state housing expos in four parishes, Calcasieu, Jefferson, Lafourche, and Terrebonne.
- More than 100 participants discussed housing, economic and community development at a state housing summit with officials and stakeholders from seven parishes, Calcasieu, Jefferson, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, Tangipahoa, and Terrebonne.
- 46 officials from nine parishes, and representatives from two tribal communities received Just-in-Time Recovery Management Trainings to increase their knowledge and skills about disaster recovery.
- Four parishes, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, and Terrebonne took part in Federal Interagency Resources Exchange events to learn about recovery resources at the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Economic Development Administration, and the SBA. Follow up technical assistance by Community Planning and Capacity Building is in process.