BATON ROUGE — East Feliciana Parish has been approved for FEMA Public Assistance for the major presidential disaster declaration for Tropical Storm Arthur, joining the parishes of Avoyelles, Pointe Coupee, St. Charles, St. Landry and Winn.

The incident period covered by the declaration includes damage caused by Tropical Storm Arthur between June 17 through June 24 eligible for potential federal assistance.

This assistance is in addition to the Individual Assistance, previously approved for Avoyelles, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Tammany and Terrebonne parishes. While Individual Assistance provides recovery support for eligible households, Public Assistance allows state and local governments and some nonprofit organizations to seek funds to help them recover.

The parishes designated for public assistance can recover eligible costs for emergency work, including debris removal and emergency protective measures. They are also eligible for permanent work that includes projects to permanently restore community infrastructure after the June storms.

The Public Assistance program is FEMA’s largest grant program, providing money to help communities pay for emergency work, debris removal and repairs to roads, bridges, water control facilities, public buildings, public utilities, parks and recreational facilities. The program reimburses eligible costs to local and state government agencies, and certain private nonprofits, including houses of worship, hospitals and academic institutions.

Federal funding is typically available on a cost-sharing basis, with FEMA reimbursing Louisiana applicants 75% of eligible costs. The applicant is responsible for the non-federal share, or up to 25%.

On Monday, FEMA also announced that homeowners and renters in Avoyelles, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Tammany and Terrebonne parishes with damage from Tropical Storm Arthur now have until Oct. 1, to apply for federal disaster assistance.

At the request of the state of Louisiana, FEMA extended the application deadline by 30 days to assist residents in their recovery from damage that occurred from June 17-24.

The quickest way to apply is by going online at disasterassistance.gov/ or by downloading the FEMA App for mobile devices.

For one-on-one help, visit either of the Disaster Recovery Centers located at:

Pointe Coupee Parish Library/Innis Branch
6444 LA Hwy. 1
Innis, LA 70747
Dates: Monday — Saturday
Hours: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Terrebonne Parish Main Library
151 Library Dr.
Houma, LA 70360
Dates: Monday – Saturday (closed Monday, Aug. 10)
Hours: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

You may also call the FEMA Helpline for more information or help at 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 1 a.m. Assistance is available in multiple languages.