President Bush Increases Relief Funds 

Release Date: October 23, 2005
Release Number: 1603-108

» More Information on Louisiana Hurricane Katrina

BATON ROUGE, La. — Disaster relief for rebuilding damage by Hurricane Katrina has been increased, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today.

Reimbursing state and local agencies 100 percent for Category A and B (debris and emergency) work will be extended an additional thirty days, according to an amendment issued Saturday by President George W. Bush to his earlier disaster declaration. This means that emergency disaster assistance such as debris removal and emergency protective measures will continue at 100 percent reimbursement to the State of Louisiana and local governments. The amendment allows the reimbursement to continue through midnight on Nov. 26, 2005.

Beginning Nov. 27, 2005, all remaining emergency work will then be reimbursed 90 percent by the federal government, with the remaining ten percent paid by the state and/or local agencies.

Specific tasks within mission assignments that have been assigned by midnight Nov. 26, 2005 will also be reimbursed 100 percent through the duration of the project. Mission assignments are given to other federal agencies to provide vital needs. These needs may include rescue missions, food disbursement, ice delivery, or other critical life and safety missions.

Also, the federal share of costs for permanent work for Categories C-G is being increased retroactively to 90 percent instead of 75 percent. The remaining ten percent will be paid by the state and/or local agencies. Categories C-G include:

FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

Last Modified: Monday, 24-Oct-2005 08:23:14