$68M in new FEMA funding earmarked for neighborhood streets
12th March 2012 · 0 Comments
On Friday, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu and FEMA officials announced $68 million in new funding for neighborhood street repairs.
“Our continued partnership with FEMA has netted significant results for our citizens as these funds will help repair critical infrastructure in our neighborhoods,” Landrieu said. “I want our residents to know that we are continuing to work with FEMA to ensure that we get fair assessments. This new funding will not solve all of our street and water problems, but it will go a long way helping resurface certain streets in some of our most impacted neighborhoods.”
“Six years after Hurricane Katrina, neighborhoods in the New Orleans area are still feeling the effects and recovering from the devastation,” Sen. Landrieu said. “These funds will provide critical support to these neighborhoods, helping them make important infrastructure updates and improvements as they continue on the path to a full recovery.”
“FEMA dollars are taxpayers’ dollars in action—rebuilding communities,” said FEMA’s Louisiana Recovery Office Acting Executive Director Joe Threat. “Repairing community streets devastated by storms is a massive undertaking because of the sheer scale of such a project and also because of the joint collaboration needed to make this process successful. Repairing community roads is an excellent example of taxpayers’ dollars being utilized in the form of local, state and federal recovery efforts.”
The first neighborhood to have new funds obligated in this program was the Lower Ninth Ward in August 2011 which included approximately $45 million for street repairs, a major infrastructure improvement targeted for one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in Hurricane Katrina. A second set of obligated funding included approximately $52 million for other hard-hit neighborhoods including, Broadmoor, Lakeshore/Lake Vista, Lakeview, Milneburg and St. Claude. A third set of obligated funding announced in January this year included nearly $14 million for Plum Orchard, Pontchartrain Park and St. Roch.
A fourth set of funding includes the following neighborhoods:
• $6.4 million for Marlyville-Fountainebleau;
• $2.4 million for Florida;
• $2.3 million for Touro/Milan;
• $12.4 million for St. Anthony;
• $14.8 million for Read Blvd East & Viavant-Venetian Isles;
• $8.3 million for West End;
• $11.4 million for Filmore;
• $4.4 million for Mid-City;
• $1.2 million for Dillard; and
• $4.4 million for Treme-Lafitte.
During Katrina, roadways throughout New Orleans were inundated with floodwaters, resulting in widespread street damages. Additionally, excessive weight from vehicles and construction trucks on the already vulnerable roadways caused further damages. As such, these additional eligible damages have been realized.
“FEMA’s re-assessment of the road damage from the flooding in our neighborhoods is essential to our full recovery,” District A Councilmember Susan Guidry said. “The allocations to the Fontainebleau and Mid-City neighborhoods are critical, and the additional funding coming to the Lake area recognizes the significant challenges that remain in rebuilding that municipal infrastructure.”
“Hurricane Katrina and failed levees resulted in catastrophic losses in District D, as it was one of the most devastated areas in the City of New Orleans,” District D Councilmember Cynthia Hedge-Morrell said. “However, today, I am excited–ecstatic to announce that District D, through obligations from the FEMA Neighborhood Road assessments, will receive approximately 27.4 million dollars, which will impact Florida, St. Anthony, Filmore, and Dillard communities. These funds will greatly improve the quality of life for families in these neighborhoods.”
Since Mayor Landrieu took office, a joint task force made up of officials from the city, Sewerage and Water Board, FEMA, and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) meet regularly to coordinate and share information and to resolve issues as projects move from planning to construction. The city has met with FEMA officials in 305 meetings and site visits. As a result, since May 2010, funding for city and Sewerage and Water Board repairs has significantly surged over the past years, resulting in approximately $400 million in new FEMA funding.
This article was originally published in the March 12, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper
