Gov. Edwards Announces $1.5 Million Federal Grant to Address Human Trafficking in Louisiana
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When your Local Building Department Says You Need to Rebuild to Higher Standards, FEMA Flood Insurance May Help
November 16, 2021
The latest numbers in the housing crisis in Terrebonne Parish were delivered at Monday’s Parish Council Committee Meeting along with confusion when it comes to a Special Flood Hazard Areas waiver in the parish.
Chris Pulaski, Director of Planning & Zoning, reported that there have been 316 trailers deployed through the state housing program (GOHSEP) in which 186 of those are occupied. He made note that that number doesn’t represent the number of people that are now housed, but rather the number of trailers that are occupied.
On the FEMA side of things, there have been thirty travel trailers deployed with only five leased in. He reported they had a conference call with the Holland Install Contractor for FEMA and outlined the permitting process. He said they came up with a process similar to that of APTIM/GOHSEP and the state housing program. He explained that they submit batches to the permitting office of locations where the trailers are going to be deployed, so they can stay ahead of the contractors in terms of issuing permits. This makes it possible that once the units get placed and the utilities are hooked up, they can then call for the inspection. Pulaski said they are still getting reports that utility hook-ups, especially Entergy, are still being delayed. He said they have weekly calls with FEMA to address any issues and that earlier Monday, FEMA representatives told Pulaski that there are survivors who are ineligible for the program because they are in a special flood hazard area. Pulaski stated, “that’s just not correct and we have to get that straight.” To clear this confusion up, the standard rule restricting the placement of FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes in Special Flood Hazard Areas, often referred to as flood zones, has been waived for Terrebonne, Jefferson, Lafourche, St. Charles, and St. John the Baptist Parishes because FEMA determined that there were not any other practical alternatives.
On account of this being an exception from the standard policy, FEMA External Affairs and Media Relations Specialist Gerard Hammink said some FEMA representatives may have given the standard answer about the issue by mistake. Similarly, reimbursement for purchase or rental of generators, due to the widespread and prolonged loss of electricity after Hurricane Ida, is also a case of an exception from standard policy and sometimes the wrong information was given out. “We apologize for giving out incorrect information in some cases,” Hammink said.
To showcase the frustration, Councilman District 7 and Council Vice Chairman Daniel “Danny” Babin read a text from a constituent that read, ”Thanks for never contacting me about a camper. Why did y’all give us false hope?” Babin passionately stated, “that’s the stuff that we get pretty much on a normal basis.” Babin said he is glad to see that 186 families now have a trailer, but, we are 76 days out from the storm, and it should be a lot more, “whatever you or the government did,” Babin said,” it looks like it lit a bit of a fire under them we are getting things moving a lot quicker, and I appreciate that.”
