BATON ROUGE – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development officially released the $1.6 billion in flood recovery funds appropriated in 2016, the Governor's Office announced.

HUD can immediately begin to withdraw funds for flood recovery and the state will begin to use the funds to conduct environmental reviews based on survey responses from flood victims.
As of April 10, 4,200 homeowners completed the survey.

Governor Edwards said that the funds will allow the state to move forward with recovery plans.

"The fact that these funds were secured at such a record pace is a testament to what we can accomplish when we all – the Louisiana congressional delegation and myself – work together for the people of our state. I look forward to continuing that effort as we seek an additional $2 billion to provide assistance to even more homeowners across the state," Edwards said. 

In October, Governor Edwards requested that HUD work with the state to reduce or eliminate the need for costly individual environmental reviews on single family homes eligible for federal repair grants. While that waiver has not been granted, the state will immediately begin conducting these reviews.