$4.6 Million FEMA Grant Awarded for Repairs to St. John Parish School Damaged in Hurricane Isaac

BATON ROUGE, La. – The St. John Parish School Board will receive a $4.6 million federal grant to repair damages to Lake Pontchartrain Elementary School caused by Hurricane Isaac, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Tuesday.

More than a foot of floodwater inundated Lake Pontchartrain Elementary during the August 2012 hurricane, causing the school to close its doors for repairs. The $4,624,088 FEMA grant helps reimburse the school board for work to bring the school back to its pre-disaster design, capacity and function.

“Getting this elementary school repaired and the students back in their classrooms will help drive the recovery forward for all of St. John Parish,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Gerard M. Stolar of FEMA.

The newly awarded funds are a portion of the more than $225 million in total Public Assistance recovery dollars approved for the state since the Aug. 29, 2012, disaster declaration. FEMA pays 75 percent of the eligible costs of projects, while the state and/or applicant cover the remaining 25 percent.

Once FEMA reimburses the state of Louisiana it is the state’s responsibility to manage the funds, which includes making disbursements to local jurisdictions and organizations that incurred costs.

More information on Louisiana disaster recovery is available online at www.fema.gov/disaster/4080 or www.gohsep.la.gov. FEMA is also on Twitter at twitter.com/femaregion6 and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FEMA.