U.S. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) last week joined a bipartisan contingent of Louisiana congressional lawmakers in calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help more parishes in their home state affected by Hurricane Ida.
The congressmen, who also included U.S. Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA), requested that FEMA work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reevaluate its determination of eligibility for certain parishes for Operation Blue Roof.
The free FEMA program, which is managed by the Corps, provides homeowners and permanently occupied rental properties in disaster areas with fiber-reinforced sheeting to cover their damaged roofs until arrangements can be made for permanent repairs, according to the agency.
“When Hurricane Ida made landfall on August 29, it brought 150 mile per hour winds that caused major structural damage in both Louisiana’s coastal and inland areas,” the lawmakers wrote in a Sept. 4 letter sent to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. “However, although many parishes have reached damage thresholds that ensured their eligibility for the individual assistance program, FEMA has determined that the following parishes are excluded from the Blue Roof program: Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. Martin, St. Mary, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana.”
Without access to Operation Blue Roof installation, homeowners in damaged areas in these parishes will have to find alternative housing arrangements and risk further damage to their properties, according to their letter.
“This not only displaces people from their communities by forcing them into temporary housing, but also drives up the cost of recovery,” they wrote.