Higgins Announces $112M in Hurricane Recovery Funds for Calcasieu Parish School Board

Press Release

Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) announced today that FEMA is awarding an additional $112,440,892.60 to the Calcasieu Parish School Board (CPSB) for hurricane recovery efforts.

Congressman Higgins has repeatedly called on FEMA to expedite Public Assistance applications for the 2020 hurricane season. This week, he questioned FEMA Administrator Criswell directly about Calcasieu Parish School Board's pending applications and followed up that exchange hours later with a letter documenting specific requests. Congressman Higgins also delivered a letter on August 10 urging FEMA to quickly review and approve CPSB's outstanding applications.

Congressman Higgins previously announced $11.2 million to CPSB for temporary roof repairs in response to Hurricane Laura.

The grants include:

$23,749,254.82 for remediation and emergency protective measures in response to Hurricane Laura at 33 campuses on the west side of the parish. The reimbursement is made at a 100% federal cost-share.
$36,012,699.40 for remediation and emergency protective measures in response to Hurricane Laura at 43 campuses on the east side of the parish. The reimbursement is made at a 100% federal cost-share.
$27,413,599.63 for remediation and emergency protective measures in response to Hurricane Laura at 43 campuses on the east side of the parish. The reimbursement is made at a 90% federal cost-share.
$25,265,338.75 for remediation and emergency protective measures in response to Hurricane Laura at 33 campuses on the west side of the parish. The reimbursement is made at a 90% federal cost-share.

All funding will be delivered to the State of Louisiana. The state is responsible for disbursing the funds to each sub-recipient.

Congressman Higgins issued the following statement:

"I spoke directly with FEMA Administrator Criswell this week and was encouraged by her personal commitment to help push these applications through the review process. These are much-needed reimbursements and will allow the Calcasieu Parish School Board to continue repairs on the damaged facilities. We'll continue to push FEMA for expedited review and approval of outstanding Public Assistance applications, for CPSB and other public entities across South Louisiana."

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