Louisiana homeowners with damage from the 2016 floods have until Friday to apply for help from a federally funded grant program designed to help them rebuild.
As the first step in the application process, homeowners have to submit a 15-minute survey to the Restore Louisiana program before the end of the week.
Gov. John Bel Edwards reopened applications for the program last month after the U.S. Congress passed legislation intended to make more homeowners eligible for relief. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on Oct. 5.
Thousands of homeowners were previously denied help or received lesser awards from the $1.3 billion program, because they took a loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration directly after the March and August 2016 floods. The loan was counted against any grant award they could receive from the Restore Louisiana program.
Those who already have applied to Restore Louisiana and were denied benefits won’t have to go through the eligibility requirements and damage assessments again, officials have said.
Since the application process was reopened Sept. 24, a total of 1,736 people have submitted surveys, according to the Louisiana Office of Community Development. Of those, 398 people had SBA loans.
"We’re thrilled with the number who responded in this second round,” Pat Forbes, director of the state Office of Community Development, said in an interview. "The more families in Louisiana who we can help, the better."
State officials are awaiting guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development about how to interpret the new law and approval of a waiver from the president, Forbes said.
"Because the legislative language was so clear, we fully expect the HUD guidance to be clear," Forbes said.
Forbes said his agency is already developing programs and policy to distribute money to SBA loan grantees when the guidance from HUD comes down.
Among the open issues is whether HUD will require that Restore Louisiana grant money be applied first towards a person's SBA loan, Forbes said.
Forbes said HUD also could choose to interpret the new law to apply only to low- to moderate-income people. But Forbes said he disagrees with such an interpretation and does not believe that is the meaning of the law.
"It's also incumbent on us to wait and see exactly how HUD describes the parameters for this," he said.
In total, about 55,000 people have submitted surveys for the Restore Louisiana program, according to a recent Restore Louisiana report. About 14,700 homeowners have been offered about $500 million in grant money, the report says.
Forbes said they estimate there are 9,271 Restore program applicants with SBA loans. Of those, they anticipate that more than 6,500 will be able to get a grant.
Homeowners can complete a survey online at restore.la.gov or by phone at (866) 735-2001 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Homeowners also can visit one of the program's Housing Assistance Centers in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Hammond or Monroe, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.