Much like post-Katrina, a major homeowner aid package could make or break flood recovery
Drop the phrase “Road Home” around New Orleans and other parts of southern Louisiana, and you're likely to hear groans, followed by horror stories about interacting with the suits who ran a homeowner-aid program that became synonymous with government inefficiency.
But dig deeper, and many people will tell you the money that flowed through the Road Home — even if it was too little and very late — was the difference between rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina or walking away.
“The Road Home was the key to the region’s recovery,” says former Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who traveled to Washington nine times to seek money for the program and then opted not to seek a second term in the wake of its frustrating launch.
Now, after historic flooding in Baton Rouge and other areas of the state, Louisiana may have arrived at another moment where a decision by lawmakers in Washington on how generously to respond will be make-or-break for a whole region.
Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/louisiana_flood_2016/article_dbd9423a-6bca-11e6-9490-1721745d0c8b.html