Deadline is Tuesday for homeowners seeking Restore Louisiana hurricane relief grants

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Homeowners who think they might qualify for federal relief grants to help repair hurricane damage from Louisiana’s 2020-21 storms have until this Tuesday (Aug. 1) to submit a required pre-application survey.

The Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program is a federally funded, state-administered program that provides grant funding to homeowners affected by Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Ida, as well as the May 2021 severe storms, to help with home repair and reconstruction. It can also provide reimbursement for complete repairs.

But the first step toward seeing if you qualify is to complete the survey that must be submitted by Aug. 1.

“With the deadline just days away, all impacted homeowners who have not taken the survey are urged to act as soon as possible and complete it before Aug. 1. Even if you don’t think you may qualify, don’t miss this important opportunity to find out if you can get help with your recovery process,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement.

“Our team is working to ensure that every eligible homeowner who meets the requirements for assistance can get it. But you must take this critical first step and complete the brief survey in order to get the help that is available. The time to act is now.”

After surveys are submitted, program administrators will invite homeowners who meet program criteria to submit full applications after an environmental review of the property is completed. To be eligible for program assistance, homeowners must meet the following requirements:

• Homeowner owned and occupied the home at the time of disaster and maintains ownership through the program’s final project inspection;
• Damaged address was the applicant’s primary residence at the time of disaster and is located in one of the 47 disaster-declared parishes;
• Home must be an eligible structural type as determined by the program, including single-family homes, owner-occupied duplexes, mobile homes and condominiums.

The program expanded the criteria for homeowners to qualify for assistance, lowering the FEMA-determined damage threshold to $3,000 from $5,000 and raising the allowable maximum of insurance proceeds received to $50,000 from $25,000, allowing the program to serve more homeowners.

Since the program’s launch in February 2022, more than 33,500 homeowners have completed the survey with 10,975 invited to submit an application. The program has offered more than $266.2 million in funding to over 3,310 eligible homeowners.

The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered by the Louisiana Office of Community Development.

The survey can be completed online at restore.la.gov using a smartphone, tablet or computer, or by calling 1-866-735-2001 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Homeowners in need of in-person assistance with the survey can visit restore.la.gov/events for a list of mobile support locations.

Mobile support events before the deadline are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday at the Terrebonne Parish Library’s East Houma branch (778 Grand Caillou Rd.) from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Tuesday at the Jean Lafitte Civic Center (4917 City Park St., Lafitte) from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

For more information, visit restore.la.gov.

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