NEW ORLEANS – The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the city of New Orleans recently announced additional Katrina-related grants totaling nearly $7 million that will directly benefit two recovery projects within the city – the Joe Brown Center in New Orleans East and the Municipal Yacht Harbor on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain.     

“These federal dollars will supplement important repairs going on at Joe Brown Center and the Municipal Yacht Harbor,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. “We are making progress every day and will continue to work with FEMA to identify new eligible funding for storm-damaged buildings and infrastructure. FEMA continues to be an important partner in our recovery from Hurricane Katrina.”

“The great thing about these grants is that they support publically recognizable facilities, since both serve various recreational needs in New Orleans,” said FEMA’s Louisiana Recovery Office Deputy Director of Programs Andre Cadogan. “These are projects that, once fully complete, locals will greatly utilize and note as yet another sign of Louisiana’s progress on her path toward full recovery.”  

Of FEMA’s latest funding, $1.7 million was provided for recently determined eligible damages at the Joe Brown Center, a popular, pre-Katrina recreational facility. This grant brings FEMA’s total support for recovery efforts at the Joe Brown Center to $3.3 million, and it includes the following work:

• Removal and replacement of flood-damaged sidewalks throughout the facility; countertops and millwork in the center’s office; storefront entrance; doors and frames; tile floors; and
• Repairs to moisture-damaged bleachers in the main facility area and to damaged windows and skylights.

“We know the city is excited to soon open the Joe Brown Center again for public use, and we are pleased with our steadfast recovery partnership that has led to us working side-by-side with the city to ensure all eligible FEMA dollars, such as these, are provided for such important work,” added Cadogan.

FEMA’s remaining funding, $5.3 million of the $7 million, was provided for the New Orleans’ Municipal Yacht Harbor, a marina docking area that provides secure anchoring for both recreational and commercial boats. The harbor facility was significantly damaged during the storm, necessitating FEMA’s current level of support, which now totals $10.1 million.

FEMA’s most recent grant for the harbor captures scope of work updates and revised estimated project costs to repair the following sites at the facility: concrete piers and pile caps, finger and end piers, fender system, timber mooring piles, watchman’s offices and restrooms, safety equipment, Pier 9 replacement, eastern bulkhead, and the electrical and mechanical distribution systems to the individual boat slips.

To date, FEMA has obligated approximately $6.4 billion in public assistance funding for Katrina and Rita related recovery work throughout the city of New Orleans.

Editors: For more information on Louisiana disaster recovery, visit www.fema.gov/latro.

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When FEMA approves projects through its supplemental Public Assistance grant, the funds are made available to the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness, who disburses them to the applicant for eligible work completed.

The Public Assistance program works with state and local officials to fund recovery measures and the rebuilding of government and certain private nonprofit organizations’ buildings, as well as roads, bridges and water and sewer plants. In order for the process to be successful, federal, state and local partners coordinate to draw up project plans, fund these projects and oversee their completion.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.