WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) announced today that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has allocated an additional $450,136,000 in long-term recovery resources to Louisiana for Hurricanes Laura and Delta and $1,272,346,000 for Hurricane Ida through the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program. The City of Lake Charles will also receive $10,776,000 and the City of Baton Rouge will receive $4,648,000 in CDBG-DR funding.
This brings Louisiana’s share of CDBG-DR funding to over $2.3 billion, which is in addition to over $2.1 billion delivered for immediate recovery costs in response to Hurricanes Laura and Delta.
Congressman Higgins issued the following statement:
“Today’s announcement of an additional $1.7 billion in long-term recovery resources is welcome news. This brings Louisiana’s total CDBG-DR allocation to over $2.3 billion with additional grant funding dedicated to Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. We have continued to push for additional disaster relief in Congress and have repeatedly called on HUD to prioritize Louisiana’s unmet needs as it allocated remaining disaster block grant funding. While this announcement delivers on those efforts, we still have work to do. We have been deeply involved in recovery efforts ever since Hurricane Laura’s landfall, and we will not stop working for Southwest Louisiana.”
Background:
In September 2021, Congress appropriated $5 billion for 2020 and 2021 nationwide disasters through the CDBG-DR program. Of that funding, HUD previously announced $2 billion in allocations, which included $600 million dedicated to Louisiana in response to Hurricanes Laura and Delta. For months, nearly $3 billion of the $5 billion appropriated by Congress has sat untouched at HUD.
The Louisiana delegation most recently delivered a letter on March 10, 2022, calling for the Biden administration to address bureaucratic obstacles that have prevented CDBG-DR funds from being allocated. Congressman Higgins also delivered a letter to Vice President Harris during her visit to Louisiana on March 21, 2022. The letter requested the Vice President’s assistance with expediting the allocation and delivery of remaining HUD funds.
With today’s announcement, HUD has now allocated the remaining CDBG-DR funds of the $5 billion appropriated by Congress in September 2021.
These resources are in addition to the over $2.1 billion delivered through FEMA’s Individual and Public Assistance programs, the National Flood Insurance Program, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) in response to Hurricanes Laura and Delta.
A more extensive timeline of Congressman Higgins’ actions on hurricane recovery is available here.
