COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT DISASTER RECOVERY (CDBG-DR) ALLOCATIONS FOR DISASTERS OCCURING IN 2020 are published.

Be sure to contact your state office of community development or housing authority to apply for grants and other programs your state will offer. These funds are for unmet needs so any costs out of pocket should be addressed by your state governors emergency preparedness agency as well as your HUD Housing Authority. 

• Louisiana contact: Office of Community Development - Disaster Recovery Unit (OCD-DRU).
  • OCD-DRU
  • Hurricane Laura Resources (DR-4559)
  • Louisiana Hurricane Delta (DR-4570)
  • Restore Louisiana Homeowners Program (State managers will assist)
• If you do not find what you are looking for call the states 2016 Flood disaster number 866-735-2001 to get a message to those inside the OCD-DRU that create the websites listed above. 866-735-2001

PUBLIC LAW 117-43

States that had declared disasters in 2020 and 2021 will start seeing federal grant funds pouring into the hands of your governor, disaster recovery agencies as well as private contractors on the states contactors list ready to take as many millions as possible. 

The first allocations are based on several factors which always follow the same process. 

1. Total numbers of major or severely damage homes or businesses.
2. Total amount of private insurance payments.
3. Total of FEMA payments.
4. Total privately funded repairs. 

The remaining numbers are called "Unmet Needs" which the grant programs will cover. 

A simple Duplication of Benefits check will be conducted based on your states method. 

For Louisiana, the state will determine the amount of damage you had and that was caused by the disaster. Then they will apply any and all financial aid you have received from other agencies to include not for profits. 

The amount not covered by any other program or funds will be covered by the grant program. 

But your state could create rules and policy that makes it very difficult to gain access to additional funds to cover your unmet needs. 

Your state could: 

1. Evaluate your repairs and make an independent estimate much lower than the actual cost of repairs you had paid. 
2. Your state could require you to return the federal funds received from other agencies if your state feels you did not apply the funds as directed by the granting agency as your state interprets the rules of other agencies. 
3. Your state could make the grant program into a reimbursement program which would force homeowners and business owners to make all repairs out of pocket before your state would reimbursement you for the repairs. 

Once states receive the grant funds you will be subjected to inspections that may offer less money than want is needed to complete your repairs. You much complete all repairs as your state managers require to receive federal grants. 

In Louisiana it is typically 35% of all homeowners that apply for unmet needs actually receive the grant funds. You will have to really push for your assistance. In some disasters like the 2016 floods out of 59,000 eligible only 17,000 will actually complete the program which often takes between 4 to 6 years from the date of the disaster. 

Follow the allocations (money) and follow what HUD and your State boards and task force members say to stay up to date. Most information will not be freely given or easy to find so be ready to publish your questions of what you can expect and who to contact. 

Resource

• H.R.5305 - Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act 117th Congress (2021-2022)
• Nov. 1, 2021 Press Release: HUD Allocates More than $2 Billion to Advance Equitable Disaster Recovery, Build Climate Change Resilience