WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. and U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. and John Kennedy yesterday requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) extend the August 2023 deadline for the city of New Orleans to use the public assistance it received in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The city received nearly $2 billion in relief from FEMA to repair roads and pipes damaged during the storm.
“I’m proud to join Louisiana’s Senators in a bipartisan manner to request FEMA extend the deadline on these important public assistance funds it received after Hurricane Katrina,” said Congressman Carter. “No matter the mistakes and failures in allocating these funds, and there have been many, we must do everything we can to secure these dollars and complete this critical work for the people of New Orleans. Our city needs these resources to fix our roads and pipes.”
“Families in New Orleans had their lives uprooted by Hurricane Katrina. It changed the city forever,” said Dr. Cassidy. “FEMA should not impose arbitrary deadlines on recovery and rebuilding.”
“Hurricane Katrina devastated our state, and Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and Ida have only slowed recovery and dealt their own blows. South Louisiana’s communities and economy need this $2 billion in FEMA aid to keep rebuilding what Katrina damaged, and I hope the agency gives the state an extension quickly,” said Senator Kennedy.
The lawmakers discussed the need for an extension further in the letter.
“When Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast in August 2005 with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph, it killed 1,833 people. It took some 43 days after Katrina made landfall for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pump the last of the floodwaters out of the city” wrote the lawmakers. “In the more recent years, New Orleans’ rebuilding has been challenged by the COVID pandemic and the unprecedented 2020 hurricane season that included Hurricanes Ida, Zeta, Barry, and Laura.”
“The Louisiana Congressional Delegation requests the August 2023 deadline be extended in order to fulfill much needed maintenance to roads and pipe repair in New Orleans,” continued the lawmakers.
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