Report: Federal aid falls short of storm rebuilding need

(AP) – While $126 billion in federal aid is projected to reach the Gulf Coast following the 2005 hurricanes, about 40 percent – $51 billion – is going toward rebuilding, a new report states, suggesting the need for continued aid in the slowly recovering region.

The analysis of aid by researchers from Harvard University, Louisiana State University and the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center shows the bulk of those dollars, about $75 billion, slated for temporary housing, food and other post-storm emergency needs. The rest of the money, $51 billion, is for rebuilding such things as houses and public infrastructure, the report states.

When added with charitable giving and private insurance dollars, the total for rebuilding rises to $77.5 billion, just over half the $150 billion in damages estimated from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the report says. (Charitable giving for the hurricanes far exceeded donations following the tsunami in southeast Asia and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the analysis shows.)

A spokesman for the federal coordinator of Gulf Coast Rebuilding did not return a phone message. Andy Kopplin, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, said the analysis is consistent with what his office has been saying: that aid provided so far is welcomed but falls far short of the need.

“The magnitude of the damages from Katrina and Rita absolutely dwarfs any other disaster in history,” Kopplin said. While additional dollars recently allocated have been a “shot in the arm” for Louisiana’s recovery, state officials will keep returning to Washington for more help, because federal aid will be vital to the ongoing rebuilding process, he said.

In particular, future requests likely will stem from community plans built around the idea of safer, stronger, smarter rebuilding – projects meant to “help make our communities among the most vibrant and energetic … in America,” he said. While private investment has been held out as key to multibillion dollar targeted and neighborhood-level rebuilding plans in New Orleans, Kopplin said continued federal aid will be needed to spur such investment.

The report projects federal aid will reach $126 billion, including about $7 billion in as-yet unappropriated funds for infrastructure projects in Louisiana and $3 billion recently passed to help bailout the federally funded, state-run Road Home program, which faced running out of dollars before buying out all eligible hurricane-affected homeowners or helping them rebuild.

The analysis – entitled “While Louisiana Gives Thanks, More Funding is Still Needed” – does not break out how much aid is going to which state.

Hurricane Rita pushed water into homes, flooding much of the coastal region in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. According to a recent report, the bulk of federal aid dollars are being spent on temporary housing, food and other pre-storm emergency needs. * File photo Tri-Parish Times