BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana expects to spend $649 million on homeowner rebuilding aid after the 2016 floods, only about half the federal money Congress set aside for the effort.
The Advocate reports 44 percent fewer households than anticipated are expected to access money allocated for homeowners in the Restore Louisiana program.
Despite heavy publicity, a new state report says more than 20,000 south Louisiana households with significant damage never took the first step to tap into the $1.3 billion in assistance. All they had to do at first was fill out a five-minute damage survey.
Community development director Pat Forbes says some people in Louisiana just don't want help.
