St John the Baptist Parish flood mitigation projects on hold after FEMA program cut
Published 3:04 pm Friday, April 18, 2025
- USACE Progress Photo: Construction is underway at WSLP contract 110. Construction continues to build up the embankment of the levee reach and excavation of the protected side channel. Once complete, more than 87 thousand cubic yards of clay material will have been placed along the 1-mile section.
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St. John the Baptist Parish flood mitigation and levee encampment projects are now on hold following the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) termination of its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program, which funds these projects.
President Trump’s administration ended a FEMA program vital to Louisiana, which funded home elevation, levee construction, and storm damage mitigation, labeling it “wasteful and ineffective.”
The program’s end would result in the rejection of 38 applications worth $185 million in Louisiana, according to FEMA’s database.
Approved grant funds that have not been distributed will be immediately returned either to the Disaster Relief Fund or the U.S. Treasury, FEMA data says. However, FEMA has stopped accepting applications for 2024 and is canceling projects from 2020 to 2023.
The Louisiana entities losing BRIC funding include the City of Lake Charles (stormwater upgrades), St. John the Baptist Parish (flood mitigation and levee enhancements), the New Orleans Sewerage System, Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government (coastal resilience initiative), and the Water Board (pump station modernization).
Others include the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) for statewide hazard mitigation planning, and the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, which focuses on flood prevention and emergency preparedness.
A spokesperson stated that closing BRIC would enable FEMA to allocate more funds to respond to hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, and similar disasters.
“By eliminating resiliency funding, the Trump-Musk Administration is harming communities who are trying to mitigate future disasters,” Democratic Rep. Troy Carter said.
