FEMA Awards More Than $3 Million for Repairs to St. John Parish School Damaged in Hurricane Isaac

BATON ROUGE, La. – The St. John Parish School Board will receive two grants totaling more than $3 million to repair damages to East St. John High School caused by Hurricane Isaac, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Monday.

About 8 inches of water inundated the school during the August 2012 hurricane, damaging both the cafeteria/gymnasium and the main building. The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board will receive $1,032,448 for repairs to the gymnasium/cafeteria and $2,029,913 for repairs to the main building.

“The grants will help with much-needed repairs to help students get back into their school,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Gerard M. Stolar of FEMA. “This will be an important step forward in the students’ lives and in the parish’s recovery.”

The newly awarded funds are a portion of the more than $231 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.