After nearly eighteen months of waiting, the Louisiana Office of Community Development opened the doors this month on the next phase of the Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program. The phase is aimed at owner-occupied homes damaged by Hurricanes Laura and Delta (2020), Hurricane Zeta (2020), Hurricane Ida (2021), and the May 2021 severe storms.
For anyone who’s been living under a tarp for a year and change, this is the federal money catching up to the damage.
What this phase is, in plain language
The program is funded through HUD Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) money, administered by the state’s Office of Community Development. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allocated more than $1 billion for Laura and Delta and another $1.27 billion for Ida and the May 2021 storms. That money flows through the Restore Louisiana program to eligible owner-occupied homes.
Eligible homeowners pick between two paths:
- Solution 1 — the program runs the repair with a managed contractor. The homeowner is less hands-on, but the program controls the scope and schedule.
- Solution 2 — the homeowner picks a Louisiana-licensed contractor they trust, and the program pays the contractor directly through a draw schedule.
We’ll be writing a lot more about Solution 2 on this blog in the months ahead. It’s the path we expect most of our clients to take, and it’s the path the program is set up to let you control.
Why Solution 2 matters for the Capital Region
Most of the homes on our desk right now aren’t “one broken window.” They’re multi-system jobs: roof damage that cascaded into ceiling damage, that let water into the walls, that fed mold, that ruined the flooring. That’s not a contractor-chasing-you-down-the-aisles job. That’s a scope document, a permit, a crew, and a schedule. You want to pick the people running that work.
Solution 2 is the path where you can. The program will verify contractor licensing and insurance with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, and then the homeowner-contractor relationship is direct.
What homeowners should gather now
If you haven’t filed yet, the first step is the online survey at restore.la.gov. Past that, start putting the following in one place:
- Proof of homeownership as of the date of the storm
- Proof of occupancy
- FEMA registration number, if you have one
- Insurance settlement paperwork, including flood
- Photos of damage, ideally time-stamped
- Receipts for any repairs you’ve already paid for out of pocket
The program will ask for all of it. Having it in one folder saves weeks.
Our role
Adams Industries is a Baton Rouge-based, Louisiana-licensed general contractor. We’ll be working on Solution 2 projects in the Capital Region and along the coast throughout this phase. If you’re thinking about this path and want to talk it through, call us.