News from the T-P. It looks as if the Hazard Mitigation Grants will be here later this Fall.
Sounds like good news for folks desiring to raise their homes, but there seems to be a catch:
“Deckert said he applied to the state-run Road Home program for federal aid to rebuild and raise his home in New Orleans’ Lakeview neighborhood. But since the mitigation grant he expected to get got tied up in the squabble between the state and feds, he used his rebuilding money to raise his house. He doesn’t think he should be penalized for trying to get on with his life.
“It’s frustrating,” said Deckert, who lives in a government trailer in front of an unfinished house now raised 9 feet off the ground. “If you took care of it because you couldn’t wait any longer, because you can’t fix your house until the foundation is fixed, you’re screwed.”
It looks like Betts and I are screwed too. We were awarded the $30K grant, but then the squabble between the State and FEMA held off the delivery of the money until the Fall. We couldn’t wait that long to get back into the house… it took 10 months to get the thing raised anyway from the day we made the down payment.
My fucking depression is not getting better over this news.
Would be good to update your page on house-raising/funding.
Our website is in transition (what’s online at this point is from pre-Katrina), but there is much news lately on this issue to share.
Would be glad to answer questions or be in touch, given very little online on this now.
UNO’s Center for Hazards Assessment, Response & Technology (CHART) is attempting to help fill the gap, & will need help!
Road Home recipients have only until the end of May to get the house elevation funding, or lose eligibility.
Audrey Evans
Comment by Audrey Evans — March 20, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
Audry,
Yesterday the LRA told us that we are getting the initial Grant for mitigation, and will get the other one too.
I will try to pull together all my info on this and survivability during and after a storm/flood. It’s just that we are getting the final touches done on our home so we can move in soon. I’m out of the house often these days, so email me privately, and I’ll start getting info to your group.
Comment by Morwen Madrigal — March 20, 2008 @ 5:23 pm
Nice post Audry. My family and I have been approved and already begun the elevation process… so far so good. I guess the Louisiana government is finally coming through!
FYI for anyone else looking to raise your home, check out the company “Louisiana Home Elevations” (name says it all).
I have been working with a guy named Chris, they have been extremely helpful and on the ball. I think their website is http://www.louisianahomeelevations.com but if not you can find them in Google.
Hope this helps!
Comment by Joe "Bayou Boy" Daniels — December 4, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
Dennis Rubion did our elevation. Very well done.
Also know (since we spent the last month getting it done) That you need a letter from the city that you had to elevate to meet code. Since FEMA cannot issue the FIRM maps until the Corps is finished with the repairs, the folks at City Hall keep repeating the 1984 data.
Comment by Morwen Madrigal — December 4, 2009 @ 3:59 pm