Housing Assistance Without Home Inspection In Parts Of Louisiana
Release Date: December 2, 2005
Release Number: 1603-193
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BATON ROUGE, La. -- Disaster-recovery officials announced today the Individuals and Households Program (IHP) has expedited assistance delivery to meet the needs of those hardest-hit by Hurricane Katrina. To be consistent with past methods of providing assistance in an expedited fashion, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide assistance based on levels of damage. Currently, verification of home damage in some areas has been impossible for inspectors because of widespread inaccessibility and victims evacuating to other parts of the country.
FEMA’s objective is to provide assistance to eligible applicants based on information obtained through satellite images. These images provide geospatial mapping data as to the depth of water in a particular area. These maps can also view the location and condition of individual homes by zip code.
On-site visual inspections have been conducted in more than 200 locations within the defined areas of the geospatial maps. The results of these inspections support the water levels reported on the maps and offer assurance that awards will be made with the highest degree of accuracy. Previous studies performed by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Association, and Louisiana State University have proven this method to be a reliable form of damage assessment.
Presently, FEMA has contracted with Baker Inc., to provide the imagery and mapping data for this process. To date, Baker Inc. has all the detailed information to provide assistance to residents of these five parishes: Orleans, St. Bernard, Jefferson, St. Tammany and Plaquemines Parish. Homes that have had two feet or more of standing water will be deemed destroyed; uninsured homeowners may be eligible for the real-property replacement grant of $10,500. Homes with standing water levels between one feet and two feet will be deemed as major damage; uninsured homeowners may be eligible for the real-property repair grant of $5,200. Homes in these designated areas with standing water levels of less than one foot will be deemed as having suffered moderate damage and uninsured homeowners may be eligible for the established “moderate” damage real property repair award of $2,600.
Pre-disaster residents (renters or owners) of these designated areas may also be awarded personal property awards based on the following:
- If they are uninsured
- If they failed the SBA income test or have been denied a low-interest loan by SBA\
- Damage level
- Homes with two feet or more standing water will receive between $10,000 and $13,000*
- Homes with between one to two feet of standing water will receive between $5,000 and $6,500*
- Homes with less than one foot of standing water will receive between $2,000 and $3,000*
* replacement award based on two-bedroom home with complete furnishings
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.
Last Modified: Friday, 02-Dec-2005 18:03:19