[StBernard] Gov. Bobby Jindal delivers $21 million check to St. Bernard Parish for hurricane recovery

[Westley Annis]

Gov. Bobby Jindal delivers $21 million check to St. Bernard Parish for
hurricane recovery
By Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune 
November 04, 2009, 3:14PM
  
Gov. Bobby Jindal came to St. Bernard Parish Wednesday, and he brought a big
check with him.

Jindal, in Chalmette to address the St. Bernard Chamber of Commerce during a
luncheon at the St. Bernard Civic Auditorium, presented an oversized check
for more than $21 million to St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro,
payment of three grants to help finance the parish's ongoing hurricane
recovery efforts.

The largest of the grants, for $20.4 million, was from a pot of Community
Development Block Grant money to reimburse the parish for the demolition of
almost 1,000 homes destroyed when the levees failed during Hurricane Katrina
in 2005, officials said. The federal recovery money will flow through the
Louisiana Land Trust, which is financed by the Louisiana Recovery Authority
and the Office of Community Development.

The other grants were for $250,548 and $273,263 for work related to
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008.

Paul Rainwater, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, said
he had committed to Taffaro many months ago that the agency would reimburse
the parish for demolition of the houses. He said that at the time the parish
had been told by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that the tab for
the demolitions would not be covered by the feds.

"We didn't want St. Bernard to lose momentum,'' by stopping its demolition
program due to funding issues, Rainwater said.

Taffaro said the parish greatly appreciated the efforts of the state to
reimburse the demolition costs.

Of Jindal, Taffaro said, "He's been an unbelievable supporter of St. Bernard
Parish's recovery.''

Later, in his address to the Chamber, Jindal discussed the state's efforts
to create a better environment for business and job growth. Jindal's visit
was part of his "Louisiana Working Tour,'' a series of visits to each of
Louisiana's 64 parishes to promote his job growth program.