More than four years after Hurricane Ida, Louisianaβs billion-dollar program to help rebuild storm victimsβ homes will soon come to an end.
The state won $3.1 billion from the federal government to recover from a slew of hurricanes in 2020 and 2021, including Laura and Ida, two of the most powerful to ever hit U.S. soil. About one-third of that went to to rebuild the homes of people who didnβt have adequate insurance or otherwise had gaps in rebuilding.
Gina Campo, head of the Office of Community Development, said she expects the program to wind down this year, after delivering aid to around 13,000 people.
The program, which has stretched on for years , illustrates the myriad roadblocks and delays involved in distributing billions in disaster aid, many of them from federal government requirements. And it came as President Donald Trump administrationβs continues to debate the with federal officials predicting states like Louisiana will be required to pick up more of the tab for future storms.
βWeβve learned a lot,β said state Rep. Jerome βZeeβ Zeringue, R-Houma, who chairs a House panel on disaster recovery. βWe definitely shouldnβt replicate Restore, but Restore established a precedent and a process that we learned from.β
The long delays in getting money to people who need it largely stem from efforts to prevent fraud. Zeringue said those efforts make the program more accountable, but that the state can streamline the process next time.
Nearly 40,000 people submitted surveys seeking individual aid. But only a fraction of them will ultimately receive money to rebuild.
After vetting applicants, the state eventually offered funding to about 15,000. A variety of factors went into doling out the money, said Jeff Haley, deputy executive director at OCD. Thousands of people filed duplicate surveys or applications. Others were renters who didnβt qualify. And some never finished the grant process or decided to sell.
Kelvin Hill, the agencyβs director of housing, said he expects all Restore projects to be finished by this September. More than 3,000 people still have outstanding grants that are not yet complete.
Red tape slowed down recovery process
By the time Restore wraps up, it will be about five years after
Campo said the delays in the program were expected, and noted Louisianaβs pace is actually faster than some other states that received aid around the same time.
Congress didnβt even appropriate the money until 2022, she noted. Then the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development took months to formulate rules and post them. And once the state got access to the money, state officials had to reach out to homeowners and vet applications to make sure federal cash would be used correctly.
βThere are a lot of delays,β Campo said. βA lot of them donβt even accept their awards on time. We bend over backwards to get as many people completed as possible.β
Once the housing aid program wraps up, OCD officials said they intend to move the remaining money to other projects that are part of the $3 billion recovery package.
For instance, the state is using several million dollars to build affordable housing in a bid to relieve homelessness in several southeast Louisiana parishes. The program includes a 12-unit project in New Orleansβ Little Woods neighborhood, a 30-unit building on the edge of downtown and projects on the northshore and in Baton Rouge.
Plus, local governments across the state are still spending millions on infrastructure improvements. That program is also experiencing delays.
New Orleans, for instance, has access to $33 million to build infrastructure and economic development projects, but has only spent $70,000 to date. Marvin McGraw, spokesperson for OCD, said the state only approved the projects in late 2025 and that they require βextensive application, review, and approval process before major spending can occur.β
Federal aid may soon be harder to get
Paul Rainwater, a former FEMA head who now consults for states on disaster recovery, said the Restore program turned into the biggest disaster aid project Louisiana has undertaken since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Restore began after theΒ
Rainwater said every time Congress appropriates disaster aid, the lawmakers add new language that states must figure out how to comply with.
He said itβs clear the Trump administration wants to move to reduce disaster costs to the federal government by shifting more of the burden to states. Such a move could cost Louisiana huge sums with hurricanes growing more powerful because of the effects of climate change.
A recent meeting of a FEMA review council was abruptly canceled in late 202,5 and itβs not yet clear when the group will meet again. The council puts forth recommendations for FEMA.
Campo also said that it may soon become harder to get a federal disaster declaration in the first place, which would make it exceedingly difficult to win federal aid.
Louisiana will likely turn more toward relocation efforts as disasters worsen and people experience more severe flooding and winds, Campo said. So far, many of the people eligible have been resistant to relocating, but her agency is working with local governments to target people who may be willing to move.
βFolks just donβt choose to do it,β she said. βWeβre digging into that to see how in the future we can make that more of an acceptable option for them.β