Parish receives $2.4M hurricane grant

BATON ROUGE – St. Charles Parish will receive a nearly $2.4 million federal grant to help the parish recover from Hurricane Isaac, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Friday.

The FEMA Public Assistance grant, totaling $2,339,648, helps reimburse the parish for costs to remove and dispose of hurricane-related debris and downed trees from public streets and parish-owned property.

"FEMA strongly supports the parish’s efforts to clean up the community after the storm," said Federal Coordinating Officer Gerard M. Stolar. "Removing piles of debris not only eliminates a threat to public health and safety, it also marks an important milestone in recovery for all residents."

The grant covers the federal share of the parish’s eligible costs for the work. Under a cost-sharing formula, FEMA reimburses the state for 75 percent of the total costs, while the state and/or applicant pay the remaining 25 percent.

The newly obligated funds are a portion of the more than $171.2 million in total Public Assistance recovery dollars approved for the state since the Aug. 29, 2012, disaster declaration.