Obama Agrees To Cover 90% Of Flood Relief Costs
President Barack Obama is reaching out to Louisiana with additional flood relief recovery funds.
Obama sent a letter to Governor John Bel Edwards today indicating that he is going to amend Louisiana’s disaster declaration to include that the federal government is now going to cover 90 percent of costs for disaster related flood relief.
The federal government has--until now--covered flood relief costs up to 75 percent.
Obama said the federal government has spent more than $660 million to help the state in the aftermath of the floods, thus far.
Around the time Obama visited flood-ravaged Louisiana, federal officials said additional emergency spending from Congress would not be required.
Then, late last week, Edwards appealed to Obama for an additional $2 billion in federal spending to cover additional costs assessed for recovery.
According to FEMA, the National Business Emergency Operations Center is working in coordination with the U.S. Chamber Foundation Corporate Citizenship Center and nearly 50 national companies engaged in assisting survivors in the Louisiana flooding with donations of time, money, services, and goods to relief organizations.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security joined with the U.S. Departments of Justice, HUD, HHS and DOT to issue guidance to recipients of federal funds (e.g., state and local emergency management agencies, law enforcement, healthcare service providers, housing and transit authorities, etc.) to ensure that individuals and communities affected by disasters receive fair treatment, as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.