Restore Louisiana Opens Survey for Homeowners Affected by Hurricanes Laura and Delta

February 01, 2022

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced today that the Louisiana Office of Community Development has launched a survey for homeowners affected by Hurricanes Laura and Delta. This comes as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development has just issued the long-awaited Federal Register Notice, which establishes rules governing disaster funding in Louisiana and several other states.

HUD provided Louisiana with $600 million in CDBG-DR funds to aid in the recovery efforts following Hurricanes Laura and Delta. In anticipation of this step, the state has developed a draft action plan detailing how it intends to use the allocated funds and will soon publish the plan for public comment and input. The information gathered from the Restore Louisiana survey will be used to improve program design and will be the first step in providing assistance to eligible homeowners.

Restore Louisiana Program Survey

Although this funding is not yet available in Louisiana, the program is launching a survey to better understand the unmet needs of impacted homeowners before the full program is launched. Homeowners who sustained major/severe damage from Hurricanes Laura and Delta are encouraged to participate in a survey.

Louisiana residents can participate in the survey using any mobile device or computer at restore.la.gov. They can also get help by dialing 1.866.735.2001.

This program is not based on a first-come, first-served basis. This survey is open to all Louisiana homeowners. The survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete and does not require any documentation; however, homeowners should have their FEMA registration number handy when completing the survey.

Qualified homeowners will be invited to submit a full application with further documentation when the official program launches, anticipated for late spring 2022. The state strongly discourages impacted homeowners from letting third parties help complete surveys for a fee. There is no charge to complete the survey, and residents should not give personal information to any third parties.

Homeowners who are not sure whether they sustained major/severe damage from Hurricanes Laura or Delta, or those who would like to appeal a previous FEMA determination on their damage level, should contact FEMA at 1.800.621.3362 or visit fema.gov/assistance/individual/after-applying/appeals.

HUD Federal Register Notice and Required Action Plan

Following HUD’s publication of the Federal Register Notice, the state must publish an action plan outlining how it intends to use the allocated funds for HUD approval before it can access and distribute the funds. To ensure that funds are available as soon as possible, the state has drafted an action plan, conducted outreach in impacted communities, and launched the Restore Louisiana program survey.

OCD is reviewing the rules and requirements established by the Federal Register Notice and will update the action plan as soon as possible so that it can be released for public comment and HUD approval. The action plan will also seek approval for other recovery programs, such as small business recovery programs, to address the shortage of affordable rental housing.

Following HUD’s approval of the action plan, the allocated funds will be made available to the state, and OCD will be able to begin providing funds to impacted residents through Restore Louisiana and other programs.

For more information about Restore Louisiana, visit restore.la.gov.