BATON ROUGE, La. – Help for Louisiana survivors of hurricanes Laura and Delta may include temporary FEMA housing assistance. FEMA has provided direct temporary housing to over 2,000 families from hurricanes Laura and Delta with just over 500 eligible families waiting to receive accommodations. Since housing the first applicant, over 100 families have already moved out of their temporary homes. Direct housing units that are provided by FEMA are not intended to be permanent housing.
If you are a hurricane Laura or Delta survivor who has been placed in a FEMA-provided housing unit, you will need to show progress toward your long-term housing plan in order to maintain eligibility.
FEMA’s temporary housing assistance requires a check every 30 days on the continued need for assistance — and the development of a long-term housing plan is essential. FEMA housing occupants without a housing plan will be given information and tools to help them find available housing.
Applicants may qualify for continued assistance based on a demonstrated need in addition to having a longer-term or permanent housing plan; or, demonstrated progress towards development of a long-term housing plan.
Survivors can show long-term housing plan progress if they:
- Commit to and begin repairing or rebuilding your pre-disaster home, find and purchase a new residence, or find and lease an available rental unit;
- Provide evidence of progress — such as invoices for repairs, contract for rebuild or a lease for a new home —or show that delays are outside of your control;
- Achieve long-term housing plan goals in a reasonable time frame;
- Fulfill requests to communicate and meet with FEMA case workers on a regular basis.
Housing applicants should keep ALL receipts, canceled checks and money orders showing proper use of FEMA repair funds, as well as previous rental assistance.
Renters and Homeowners can call the FEMA helpline to request an application if they have a continued need for further rental assistance. Renters should first contact their previous landlord to find out if and when they will be permitted to move back into their former dwellings.
Laura and Delta survivors can stay in touch with FEMA by phone or online:
Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 (TTY 800-462-7585).
Visit DisasterAssistance.gov.
Download the FEMA Mobile App at fema.gov/about/news-multimedia/app or get a link to download it via text messaging on an Android device (text ANDROID to 43362) or Apple device (text APPLE to 43362).
Those who use a relay service such as a videophone, InnoCaption or CapTel should alert FEMA as to the specific number assigned to that service.
For the latest information on Hurricane Laura, visit fema.gov/disaster/4559. For the latest information on information on Hurricane Delta, visit fema.gov/disaster/4570. Follow the FEMA Region 6 Twitter account at twitter.com/FEMARegion6.
