$59M in FEMA grants to help clean up after Katrina

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jun 19, 2006 by CityBusiness Staff Report

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, announced the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse Louisiana for hurricane relief with 18 grants totaling close to $59 million for infrastructure improvements to schools, hospitals, and other public facilities.

These grants will have a significant impact on many of Louisiana's important public services, Landrieu said. By helping the institutions that educate our children, protect our citizens, and perform the necessary work for the people of Louisiana, these grants will help rebuild sections of Louisiana that are still suffering hardships as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

FEMA's Public Assistance Program allows local governments to respond to disasters, recover from their impact, and mitigate impact from future disasters. The goal is to help a community recover from devastating natural disasters.

The FEMA grants include more than $16 million for temporary facilities related to Charity Hospital closing in New Orleans, more than $7 million to help clean up debris in St. Tammany Parish and more than $9 million to restore school infrastructure throughout southeastern Louisiana.

Landrieu emphasized the importance of a constant revenue stream in protecting Louisiana from future hurricanes.

These grants will certainly help, but to provide the security our citizens and economy require, we will need to secure our fair share of the consistent, reliable funding stream we generate through the oil and gas production off our coast, Sen. Landrieu said.

The FEMA grants are for the following projects:

* $16,755,089 for temporary facilities related to the closure of Charity Hospital, including tent facilities, equipment and a new trauma center;

* $7.65 million to remove debris from approximately 3,000 private property sites with right of entry permission within St. Tammany Parish;

* $6,374,284 to repair and restore the basement of the Louisiana Office of Facility Planning and Control University Hospital;

* $3.375 million to remove vegetative debris caused by Hurricane Katrina from an estimated 750 homes in Washington Parish;

* $2,694,582 to help replace contents of all Southern University of New Orleans buildings flooded by Lake Pontchartrain and the Industrial Canal during Hurricane Katrina;

* $2,636,834 to repair severe damage to the first and second floors of C.F. Rowley Elementary School in St. Bernard Parish by Hurricane Katrina;

* $2,333,227 to repair two 9-11 Operation Center location in New Orleans destroyed by Hurricane Katrina;

* $2,166,592 to return the upper floors, starting at the ground level of the Louisiana Office of Facility Planning and Control University Hospital;

* $2,147,688 to provide temporary housing for displaced government employees;

* $1,913,544 to repair and replace the State Office Building's mechanical equipment, including its climate control and electrical systems in New Orleans;

* $1,834,871 to replace St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Department vehicles and jail transportation vans;

* $1,743,384 to repair and clean three locations of the LSU Health Sciences Center;

* $1,645,147 to clean 8,170 storm basins and power wash 573,147 linear feet of streets in the City of Lake Charles;

* $1,286,441 to install temporary classrooms to accommodate approximately 500 students in the Jefferson Parish Public School System;

* $1,212,525 to permanently repair the inside and outside damages to the Allied Health building of Nunez Community College;

* $1,141,868 to replace the contents of the Cameron Main Library in Cameron Parish, which was washed away by Hurricane Rita;

* $1,067,644 to repair and clean the auditorium and gymnasium of Walker High School in Algiers; and

* $921,939 to restore equipment, book security system, and miscellaneous school items at the Slidell Campus of Delgado Community College.