BATON ROUGE – Governor Bobby Jindal announced that 53 parishes will share more than $565.5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funds to aid their recoveries from hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which caused widespread housing and infrastructure damage last year.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development notified Louisiana of its second award of disaster recovery funds, meaning the state’s $800 million recovery plan is fully funded.

Hard hit Ascension Parish received a $19,370,564 allocation, the ninth highest amount in the state.

“Hurricanes Gustav and Ike affected almost every parish in Louisiana, and we knew that creating a one-size-fits-all program out of Baton Rouge for administering federal recovery aid just wouldn’t work,” Jindal said. “By directing this $565 million in federal funds directly to parishes we have removed bureaucratic red tape that would prolong the recovery process. Instead, we are pushing federal recovery funds directly to parishes in order to speed up local efforts to rebuild homes, repair infrastructure and ensure that communities are better prepared for future storms.”

The biggest portion of funding goes directly to the parishes affected by the storms, with the level of damage dictating how much money each parish receives. The state will invest a portion of the total allocation to aid the fishing and agricultural sectors, create affordable housing and improve coastal protection.

“Pushing dollars directly to parishes and cities allows recovery decisions to be made in the most devastated communities, instead of creating large programs envisioned and run out of Baton Rouge,” said Paul Rainwater, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. “Already we have signed agreements with 30 parishes to allow them to move forward with their work and we are committed to providing technical assistance and advice to local leaders throughout the recovery process. Coupled with state-run programs for fisheries and agriculture aid, these parish programs will put hundreds of millions of dollars on the street for comprehensive recovery.”

Damage levels were determined for each parish based on HUD analysis of FEMA damage assessments. Other parish allocations include:

• Iberville, $44,197,877

• East Baton Rouge, $34,223,293

• Assumption, $26,879,387

• Livingston, $11,264,828

• St. James, $10,533,467

Terrebonne Parish received the largest allocation, $123,270,148. Six parishes each received $150,000, the smallest allocation.