Congress makes ‘down payment’ on flood recovery as delegation works for more

Congress makes ‘down payment’ on flood recovery as delegation works for more

Opinion by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy

When the levees failed during Hurricane Katrina, the devastation was massive. Louisiana waited four long months before receiving community development funds to help families rebuild and put their lives back together. We learned that there is a great cost that comes with waiting. Without the resources to give them the financial confidence to rebuild, tens of thousands decided to move on and never returned (NOLA.com).

The Louisiana Flood of 2016 caused an estimated $8.7 billion in damages. Excluding hurricanes, it is the most expensive natural disaster to hit our country in the past 100 years. In the weeks that followed, our state came together to start the process of recovering and rebuilding. Louisiana’s senators and representatives, along with Gov. John Bel Edwards and other state leaders, also have been working together to do everything necessary to bring federal help as quickly as possible to those who were flooded. As a result, the Louisiana delegation has achieved an unprecedented level of success in securing much-needed federal relief for the people of our state (NOLA.com).

Just more than a month after President Barack Obama declared 20 parishes in Louisiana federal disaster areas, Congress passed a down payment of a half billion dollars for immediate disaster relief and authorized 26 infrastructure projects that are essential for future flood mitigation. We now have the ability to act quickly in our recovery, increasing the success of our efforts while decreasing the final cost (NOLA.com).

The $500 million in aid that is included in the recently passed Continuing Resolution is a down payment. It represents the government’s commitment to help families in disaster areas across the country recover, rebuild and prosper. The funds will be allocated based on the amount of devastation, and Louisiana will receive the lion’s share. The governor and his 21-member recovery team will determine how these funds will be spent. Their spending plan also will aid our future requests for federal relief funds (NOLA.com).

This month, the Senate passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2016, which authorizes 26 critical infrastructure, hurricane protection and flood control projects for Louisiana. The projects authorized, like the Comite River Diversion, are essential for mitigating the damage of future storms and floods (NOLA.com).

The delegation also had success petitioning the administration to make additional resources available to aid recovery efforts in Louisiana. In response to the delegation’s Sept. 12 letter, the president sent a request to Congress asking that $2.6 billion be allocated for Louisiana relief aid (NOLA.com).

Additionally, I secured the IRS’ agreement to grant a waiver allowing those impacted by the flood early access to retirement funds. Sen. David Vitter and I have introduced legislation to waive any associated fees for early IRA withdrawals for those impacted by the August flooding (NOLA.com).

Due to the significant damage caused by the great flood of 2016, the state also is receiving a 90 percent to 10 percent cost-share ratio with FEMA for recovery costs. FEMA will carry 90 percent of the financial burden. This will decrease the financial strain on the state and bring additional funds to aid Louisiana’s recovery (NOLA.com).

The money for Louisiana included in the Continuing Resolution is a crucial first installment as we work toward securing the rest of Louisiana’s request for federal disaster relief. After the November elections, Congress will return to Washington, and the task of delivering additional aid to the state will be a top priority. We are going to build on our efforts and continue to do all that we can to bring sufficient help to those who were affected by the flooding. Congress has made a good start in helping the people of Louisiana, but now needs to see it through to the end (NOLA.com).

We have thousands of families who were completely caught off guard, unprepared, by no fault of their own. They were caught by an unprecedented 1,000-year flood and are now struggling to pick up the pieces. They are trying to make the decision on whether to stay and rebuild or just move on. We will continue our efforts in the coming months to increase the resources available to these families so they can recover and rebuild with confidence (NOLA.com).

Bill Cassidy of Baton Rouge represents Louisiana in the U.S. Senate (NOLA.com).

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