Mississipps vs. Louisiana

I thought it might be interesting to compare the Mississippi and Louisiana homeowner grant programs. Here are the latest comparable statistics on both. I have linked to the web site for each program which reports the weekly statistics.

		Louisiana		Mississippi
●	Total applications received:	107739		17674
●	Appointments scheduled or held:	77487
●	Benefits calculated:	37369		13595
●	Closings held:	632		12387
●	Amount of benefits calculated:	$2,950,000,000.00
●	Dollar Value of Grants Paid	$50,804,584.00	(est.)	$705,543,407.00

The amount of grants paid in Louisiana is not reported so I estimated it by multiplying the average grant calculated by the number of closings. I suspect the amount of grants calculated for Louisiana is higher than the amount that will ultimately be awarded, as it may include elevation and mitigation grants not paid.

In looking at the Louisiana Road Home Statistics I was unable to find an archive of the weekly statistics for previous weeks. Neither program is in the Wayback Machine. If anyone is aware of such a list please let me know.

A comparison of the programs is also interesting. It's important to note that the Mississippi program is significantly different from the Louisiana Road Home Program. The Mississippi program is divided into two phases.

Phase I. The Mississippi Homeowner Grant Assistance program is a one-time grant payment, up to a maximum of $150,000, to eligible homeowners who suffered flood damage to their primary residence.

Eligibility Requirements

• Homeowner owned and occupied their home as of August 29, 2005.
• Home was located in Harrison, Hancock, Jackson or Pearl River Counties.
• Home was homeowner’s primary residence on August 29, 2005.
• Homeowner maintained homeowners insurance on the property.
• Home was located outside the pre-Katrina designated flood zone.

Phase II is limited to $50,000. To be eligible for the Phase II Assistance Program, applicants must have:

• Owned and occupied a home as a primary residence on August 29, 2005
• Owned a home located in Hancock, Harrison, Jackson or Pearl River Counties.
• Owned a home that received flood surge damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina
• Had a household income at or below 120% of Average Median Income (AMI)

In contrast the Louisiana Road Home Program is available to all homeowners, regardless of location and cause of their loss.

Road Home Eligibility Information. For homeowners to qualify for assistance through The Road Home program:

You must have owned the home as your main residence at the time of the Hurricanes.

Your home must be a single- or double-unit structure.


Your property must have at least $5200 in damage from hurricanes Katrina or Rita.

Homeowners who were uninsured but should have carried insurance (for example, those who lived in a flood plain but did not have flood insurance) are eligible for the program, but they will incur a 30 percent penalty.

Most people in New Orleans would not qualify for Phase I of the Mississippi program, which is almost complete. They would qualify for the Phase II program which offers only one third the compensation and is income limited but which has not started yet.