Hurricane Isaac
Aug. 28 - Aug. 30, 2012
Hurricane Isaac struck Louisiana’s coast as a Category 1 hurricane in Plaquemines Parish on Aug. 28, 2012. The storm then headed back out over the Gulf of Mexico and made a second landfall just west of Port Fourchon in Lafourche Parish on Aug. 29, 2012. The slow-moving storm affected multiple parishes with sustained strong winds and heavy rain through Aug. 30, 2012. The severe storms brought heavy rainfall along inland waterways and caused an estimated $1.1 billion in damage, including the flooding of nearly 17,000 homes and massive power outages to more than 900,000 homes and businesses.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development appropriated more than $106 million to Louisiana for recovery from Hurricane Isaac, $42.4 million of which went directly to the City of New Orleans, Jefferson Parish and St. Tammany Parish.
Reporting Highlights
Funding Allocations:
$64.4 million to the state of Louisiana
$16.4 million to Jefferson Parish
$15 million to the city of New Orleans
$10.9 million to St. Tammany Parish
564
affordable housing units created
11
infrastructure projects completed
44
Louisiana businesses served
Administered Programs
St. John the Baptist Parish Recovery Program
Homeowner Rehabilitation
This program allocated $11.5 million to help homeowners rehabilitate, reconstruct and elevate their damaged homes.
School Board
This program allocated $5 million to address public facilities needs.
Economic Development
This program allocated $3.3 million to address unmet economic development needs and expand economic opportunities.
Homebuyer Assistance
This program allocated $2.9 million to assist low- to moderate-income residents in becoming new homeowners.
Housing Elevation
This program allocated $2.5 million toward a voluntary elevation program for homes located in flood-prone areas.
Small Rental Rehabilitation
This program allocated $1.9 million to owners of one- to four-unit properties to rehabilitate, reconstruct and elevate those properties.
Demolition and Clearance
This program allocated $350,000 to demolish and clear properties identified by the St. John the Baptist Parish Planning and Zoning Department as uninhabitable, hazardous or otherwise unsafe storm-damaged homes.
Plaquemines Parish Recovery Programs
Plaquemines Homeowner Assistance Program
This program allocated $12.9 million to address unmet housing needs.
Housing Elevation/HMGP Non-Federal Match Program
This program allocated $4 million to a voluntary elevation program, implemented and administered in conjunction with homeowner elevation activities conducted in accordance with the parish’s FEMA-funded Hazard Mitigation Grant Program for homes located in flood-prone areas throughout the parish.
State-Implemented Programs
FEMA Cost-Share
In response to heavy rain, flooding and power outages associated with Isaac, the state provided emergency protective measures necessary to reduce both the immediate threat to life, public health and safety and the threat of significant damage to improved public and private property.
The state obligated $5.9 million to cover a portion of the 25% cost-share associated with federal funds provided to state agencies for recovery from Isaac.
Hazard Mitigation Assistance Cost-Share for LMI Households
This program allocated $2.7 million to assist low-to moderate-income residents who qualify for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds but could not afford to pay the cost-share.
Homeowner Rehabilitation
This program allocated $1.7 million to create a homeowner rehabilitation program to address housing needs in parishes that did not receive separate disaster recovery funding. In eligible parishes, funds went to low- to moderate-income homeowners who experienced funding repair gaps due to limited resources and who were living in homes with substandard conditions and/or in violation of code enforcements.
Eligible parishes included:
Parish Recovery Projects
This program allocated $1.1 million to the five parishes with most damage per household for Isaac-related recovery projects, in keeping with parish priorities. Those parishes included: