The Great Floods of 2016
March 8 - 11, 2016 and August 11 - 13, 2016
In 2016, Louisiana experienced severe storms and flooding in both March and August, collectively referred to as the 2016 Severe Storms and Flooding. The National Weather Service designated the August flooding event that dropped an unprecedented 7 trillion gallons of rainwater in South Louisiana as a "1,000-year" rainfall event. These disasters resulted in 56 of the state’s 64 parishes receiving a federal disaster declaration.
The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development allocated $1.7 billion in Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery funding to Louisiana for recovery from the Great Floods of 2016. The funds arrived in three separate allocations:
Reporting Highlights
Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program
The Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program launched and began processing applications and disbursements
faster than any federally funded homeowner program in history.
56,624
Surveys submitted
45,440
Applications processed
17,201
Construction projects completed
Grant awards offered to
17,264
totaling
$1,010,631,323
Performance
20,381
Homes Served
12
Infrastructure Projects
461
Businesses Served
Situation and Pipeline Reports
These reports show a snapshot of program progress.
Administered Programs
To address unmet needs caused by the Great Floods, LOCD-DR administered housing, infrastructure and economic development recovery programs.
Housing
Restore Louisiana Homeowner Programs
Restore Louisiana provided grant funding to homeowners affected by the 2016 Great Flood for home repairs, reconstruction and/or reimbursement for repairs already completed.
- Homeowner Assistance Program ($1.05B)
- Interim Housing Assistance Program ($6M)
- Flood Insurance Assistance Program ($1M)
Rental Housing, Housing Assistance and Homelessness Prevention Programs
These programs provided forgivable loans, loan assistance or gap financing to landlords to restore their flood-damaged properties and to nonprofit developers to develop new rental housing stock in order to restore and create long-term affordable rental housing stock and to ensure the long-term viability of rural multifamily properties. Programs also provided rental assistance and wrap-around services to vulnerable low-income renters to prevent homelessness.
- Resilient and Mixed Income Piggyback Program ($108M)
- Piggyback Program ($75.2M)
- Middle-Market Loan Program (MMLP) ($52.6M)
- Neighborhood Landlord Rental Program (Phases I, II, III) ($50.39M)
- Rural Repair and Rehabilitation Program ($15M)
- Multifamily Rental GAP Program ($13.6M)
- Rapid Rehousing Program ($11M)
- Louisiana Military Dept - Affordable Rental ($10M)
- Cypress at Ardendale - Affordable Rental Housing ($8M)
- OCD CDBG Homeownership (OCHO) Pilot ($8M)
- Soft Second Program ($6M)
- Fast GAP A Program ($5.3M)
- Permanent Supportive Housing Program ($5M)
- Safe Haven Program ($4M)
Infrastructure and Economic Development
Restore Louisiana Infrastructure and Public Services
Programs provided grants to state agencies, local governments and non-profits eligible for FEMA Public Assistance in order to offset the burden of the 10% or 25% state and local match requirements.
- Infrastructure Program (PA Match) ($105M)
- PRO Louisiana Workforce Development ($8.5M)
- First Responders Public Services Program ($1.7M)
Restore Louisiana Economic Recovery and Revitalization Programs
Programs provided partially forgivable loan assistance to small businesses for eligible non-construction unmet needs and grant assistance to farmers to help in their long-term recovery from the Great Floods of 2016.
- Small Business Loan Program ($39.3M)
- Farm Recovery Program ($19.7M)
Planning
Programs funded regional capacity building activities to create a preliminary watershed plan and coordinate funding, data and resources among five state agencies to reduce flood risk through a watershed-based approach.
- Planning ($61.2M)
- Watershed Modeling and Planning ($32.04M)
- Regional Capacity Building Grant ($7.2M)