BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – More than a year after Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana, locals continue to repair damage sustained during the disastrous storm.
Ever aware of Louisiana’s struggle to rebuild, the federal government is providing the state with an additional $831 million in Hurricane Ida and May 2021 Rainbomb Recovery.
A Monday, October 31 news release from U.S. Congressman Garret Graves addresses the additional funds, saying, “We previously secured $1,272,346,000 to provide direct assistance to Hurricane Ida victims for recovery. Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an additional $831,502,000 for Hurricane Ida recovery and the May 2021 rainbomb.”
In the news release, Graves goes on to explain that the extra funding increases the total amount of funds for impacted communities to $2,103,848,000.
Graves describes how the capital area is affected, saying, “There is an additional $3,038,000 going directly to the City of Baton Rouge (because they are considered an entitlement city). While the White House did NOT include this funding in their appropriations request to Congress, we were able to work to get these funds for Hurricane Ida victims included in the most recent appropriations bill. We will continue to work to help address the recovery and flood protection needs of our community.”
According to some sources, Hurricane Ida alone is estimated to have caused $75 billion in damages after destroying thousands of structures in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi.