Louisiana Build to Rebuild plan.

Forces working against property owners are, costs, labor, materials, compliance, current state managed programs, waivers, policy and procedures. Bureaucracy created at the state level cheats property owners out of hundreds of millions in federal tax dollars designated to assist in building back more resilient than before. Each disaster defunds property owners with all the insurance protections available do to the inflated costs of materials and labor. As repairs and construction processes are followed costs are reduced to the lowest possible level which actually reduces the quality of repairs and reconstruct. It is estimated that if a property owner cannot secure outside funding in the form of a private loan their insured value of repairs will be 30% less than what is actually needed. Once the property is substantially damaged more than 3 times the structures have no real value to rebuild and have to be reconstructed in a way to prevent future substantial damages. If you are unable to rebuild better then you will be facing higher costs after the next disaster with less resources available to you. It would be impossible to rebuild with a resilient plan if you are always insured for less than the actual costs to rebuild.

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Question 7. HUD Disaster Operations: Frequently Asked Questions

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Disaster Operations

HUD provides flexible grants to help cities, counties, and States recover from Presidentially declared disasters, especially in low-income areas, subject to availability of supplemental appropriations.
In response to presidentially declared disasters, Congress may appropriate additional funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program as Disaster Recovery grants to rebuild the affected areas and provide crucial seed money to start the recovery process. Since CDBG Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) assistance may fund a broad range of recovery activities, HUD can help communities and neighborhoods that otherwise might not recover due to limited resources. Disaster Recovery grants often supplement disaster programs of FEMA, the Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In addition, HOME Disaster Recovery grants can provide an important resource for providing affordable housing to disaster victims.
CDBG-DR funds are made available to states, units of general local governments, Indian tribes, and insular areas designated by the President of the United States as disaster areas. These communities must have significant unmet recovery needs and the capacity to carry out a disaster recovery program (usually these are governments that already receive HOME or CDBG allocations). At times, supplemental appropriations restrict funding solely to states rather than the local cities and/or counties.

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Question 21. HUD Disaster Operations: Frequently Asked Questions

What are CDBG-DR funds typically used to address and how are these funds different from regular CDBG appropriations?

Grantees may use CDBG-DR funds for recovery efforts involving housing, economic development, infrastructure and prevention of further damage to affected areas. Use of CDBG-DR funding cannot duplicate funding available from FEMA, the Small Business Administration, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. A duplication occurs when a beneficiary receives assistance from multiple sources for a cumulative amount that exceeds the total need for a particular recovery purpose.
Examples of these activities include:

  • Buying damaged properties in a flood plain and relocating residents to safer areas;
  • Relocation payments for people and businesses displaced by the disaster;
  • Debris removal not covered by FEMA;
  • Rehabilitation of homes and buildings damaged by the disaster;
  • Buying, constructing, or rehabilitating public facilities such as streets, neighborhood centers, and water, sewer and drainage systems;
  • Code enforcement;
  • Homeownership activities such as down payment assistance, interest rate subsidies and loan guarantees for disaster victims;
  • Public services;
  • Helping businesses retain or create jobs in disaster impacted areas; and
  • Planning and administration costs (limited to no more than 20 percent of the grant).

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Question 22. HUD Disaster Operations: Frequently Asked Questions