President Obama Declares A Major Disaster For Lousiana

The United States Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today announced a federal disaster in the State of Louisiana due to flood waters. All supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms and flooding beginning on March 8, 2016, has been declared Federal disaster and continuing.

Washington, D.C.  -  Under release number HQ - 16 - 023, President Obama has declared the State of Louisiana a Major Disaster under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency management Agency (FEMA).  The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Bossier, Claiborne, Grant, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, and Webster parishes.    Per the release, assistance will include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.  

The President's action makes federal funding available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by a severe storms and flooding in the Bossier, Claiborne, Grant, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, and Webster parishes.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.  

Gerard M. Stolar has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. Stolar said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

Individuals and business owners who sustained losses in the designated area can apply for assistance today by registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362 or by web enabled mobile device at m.fema.gov.  Disaster assistance applicants, who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY, should call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362.  The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.

Note, if your Louisiana Parish has been impacted by the flood and has not registered as of yet, please contact FEMA at 1-800-621-3362, to get registered and declared in your area.

Follow FEMA online at http://blog.fema.govwww.twitter.com/femawww.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate's activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.  The social media links provided are for reference only.  

FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications. 

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Related Content: 

Federal Aid Programs for the State of Louisiana

Last Updated: 

March 13, 2016 - 18:26

State/Tribal Government or Region: 

Louisiana

Related Disaster: 

Louisiana Severe Storms and Flooding

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