WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is finalizing the delivery of $1.2 billion in disaster mitigation funding to Louisiana.
Congress originally appropriated this funding in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.
The funds are to support mitigation activities in nine states that experienced presidentially declared disasters from 2015 through 2017.
“This money, secured by the congressional delegation, is essential to increase our state’s resiliency to flooding,” said U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA). “This money needs to go towards flood mitigation projects that will reduce flood risk and lower flood insurance premiums for Louisiana families.”
New National Flood Insurance Program in conjunction to FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 are scheduled to be announced in April, 2020 and go into effect in October, 2020. In 2014, Cassidy’s Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act was signed into law, which (Sec. 19) allows planned mitigation projects to be taken into account when determining future flood insurance premiums.
“The people of Louisiana are no strangers to disasters, and this funding will help mitigate the destruction that disasters can cause,” said U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA). “I hope that HUD will work swiftly to allow our state to use this money on important disaster mitigation projects that will help protect our homes, families and businesses from future storms.”
