BATON ROUGE, La. — Applicants without an insurance policy may be eligible for FEMA help to restore a home to a safe, sanitary and secure condition following a disaster.FEMA assistance is not the same as insurance. Assistance only provides the basic needs for a home to be habitable, including toilets, a roof, critical utilities and doors. Examples of ineligible items may include cabinets and garage doors.Home damage must be disaster-related. A home inspection is required to calculate the FEMA verified loss. Calculations are based on the general depreciation amount for items...

DENTON, Texas –– New flood maps become effective in Jackson County on June 7, 2017.  Residents are encouraged to examine them to determine their need to buy flood insurance. Knowing their risks, individuals and community leaders can make informed decisions about building and development.Most homeowner insurance policies do not cover the effects of flooding. Anyone without flood insurance runs the risk of uninsured losses to their homes, personal property and businesses. Flood insurance is available either through a private policy, or through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP is...

BATON ROUGE, La. — August flood survivors who have a continued need for temporary disaster rental assistance must submit paperwork that demonstrates a disaster-related and financial need.Survivors who receive the initial two months of rental assistance may use funds to reimburse expenses for an apartment, house, hotel or recreational vehicle while they work on long-term housing plans. The temporary assistance covers rental assistance for up to 18 months from the date of the declaration.FEMA mails Continued Temporary Housing Assistance (CTHA) applications to some survivors two weeks after they initially receive two...

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisianans are moving forward from the August 2016 floods. Their recovery includes rebuilding, repairing, finding new rentals or making plans to leave their manufactured housing units (MHUs).   Manufactured housing units, provided as a temporary housing solution by FEMA at the request of the state, are not intended to be a permanent housing option for flood survivors.MHUs are provided by FEMA as a last-resort temporary housing solution. If no other housing options are available, survivors who qualify may be eligible to stay in an MHU for up to 18...

BATON ROUGE, LA. — The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in Louisiana has spiked to more than 480,000 active policies following the March and August floods. That’s an increase of more than 35,000 policies.NFIP had the largest monthly increase of more than 20,000 policies from August to September last year. Ascension, East Baton Rouge and Livingston Parishes received the most damage from the 2016 floods and now account for more than 62,000 NFIP policies.In Louisiana, polices in 2015 dropped to approximately 454,000. In 2014, the number of active NFIP policyholders topped...