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...

Official website of the Department of Homeland SecurityOriginal linkOriginal author: sylvia.obear

Official website of the Department of Homeland SecurityOriginal linkOriginal author: sylvia.obear

BATON ROUGE, La. — Two Central schools have received federal disaster assistance to return students to classrooms after the August flood damaged their campuses.About $4.2 million in FEMA assistance has reimbursed schools in Central:Central Private School has been awarded more than $3.7 million to place temporary facilities on its campus that students may attend during repairs to the permanent facility. The funds also lessen stresses on two campuses that have hosted Central Private School’s students since the flood.Tanglewood Elementary School has been awarded more than $500,000 for temporary facilities and supplies...

BATON ROUGE, La. —Louisiana flood recovery continues thanks to the work of committed citizens, businesses, government agencies and faith-based, community and volunteer organizations.Unfortunately, some contractors seeking to exploit survivors often appear in a disaster’s wake. Survivors who hire contractors to repair and rebuild homes should be cautious.Consumers working with contractors should keep the following tips in mind:Contractors must be licensed or registered to do work in Louisiana.Down payments for repair work should not exceed 10 percent of the total cost.Contractors should not be paid for work that is not complete. Survivors...