$6 million in aid poured into area
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 10, 2002
By LEONARD GRAY
LAPLACE – Nearly $6 million in state and federal funds poured into the River Parishes in the aftermath of Hurricane Lili and Tropical Storm Isidore, in the form of emergency housing and grants.
Louisiana, as a whole, received more than $168 million, according to the Federal Emergency Disaster Agency, the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
In the River Parishes, 6,389 storm victims applied for housing assistance, and 3,431 of those applications were approved, including 842 in St. Charles Parish, 1,112 in St. James Parish and 1,477 in St. John the Baptist Parish. The value of that housing totaled $3,262,844 for the River Parishes, including $802,108 for St. Charles, $1,267,415 for St. James and $1,173, 059 for St. John Parish.
Additionally, 2,169 individual and family grants were approved by agencies for the River Parishes, totaling $2,662,361. That was divided as follows: St. Charles with $603,731l; St. James with $788,830; and $1,269,800 for St. John Parish.
Altogether, St. Charles benefitted by $1,426,101, St. James by $2,056,245, and St. John by $2,442, for a total of $5,925,205 for the region.
Those numbers do not include the SBA loan assistance which went to small businesses hurt in the storms.
Louisiana’s emergency storm assistance went to more than 163,000 residents affected by the storm as of the Dec. 2 registration deadline, which has been extended to Dec. 14.
Federal Coordinating Officer Carlos Mitchell said the scope of the disaster could be expressed as follows: “Imagine the Superdome filled up twice over, with people needing help and you can visualize the scope of the need out there.”
State Coordinating Officer Art Jones added it is the largest number of disaster applicants in state history, and added, “We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we know that a lot of our citizens suffered a great deal of hardship and had their lives turned upside-down.”
Isidore made landfall near Grand Isle on Sept. 26, and Lili followed near Marsh Island in Iberia Parish on Oct. 3. A presidential disaster declaration included 44 parishes.