BATON ROUGE (AP) — Homeowners with damage from last year's devastating floods are being asked to take a survey, the first step in applying for federal disaster recovery aid that soon will be available.
The survey will be posted online today at www.restore.la.gov.
Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration will use the survey responses to help determine if people are eligible for the homeowner assistance program that will be funded out of block grant aid allocated by Congress.
The administration intends to spend $1.3 billion of the federal money on homeowner aid.
About 36,000 homeowners are expected to receive rebuilding assistance: those with major or severe damage from the flooding — considered a foot or more of water or at least $8,000 in destruction — who didn't have flood insurance coverage.
That's only a fraction of the estimated 112,000 homes damaged in the March and August flooding.
The survey is expected to take about 15 minutes and doesn't require any documentation. All homeowners with some damage are encouraged to take the survey, even if they don't believe they'll qualify for assistance.
Potentially eligible homeowners will be asked to then formally apply for assistance, with documentation to verify survey answers. The survey also will help the state determine what unmet needs still exist for homeowners.
Money for the homeowner program is expected to start flowing in late April or early May.
