As flood-battered Louisiana starts to recover from heavy August rains, housing, schools, other buildings and roads are among the hard-hit infrastructure sectors.

路易斯安那州美国工程公司执行委员会执行主任丹·莫布利（Dan Mobley）表示，联邦住房援助开始流动。但是他补充说：“我认为人们不了解这种情况的严重性，也不了解我们现在在路易斯安那州南部的破坏。”

An Aug. 21 Baton Rouge Area Chamber analysis says that 41.5% of homes in the nine-parish area—as many as 110,000 structures, valued at a total $20.7 billion—are in flooded areas. So are nearly 12,000 businesses, 35% of the region’s total. Some areas got more than 30 in. of rain.

“We have a lot of schools that went underwater—some of them only had a few inches, some of them had five or six feet,” Mobley says. Churches, courthouses and other government buildings also were flooded, he adds.

The analysis says about 1,000 sq miles flooded, but only 15% of homeowners in that area have flood insurance.

While Reuters reported on Aug. 19 that one major ExxonMobil refinery in Baton Rouge was operating at 60% of capacity, Greg Bowser, Louisiana Chemical Association senior vice president, damage to members’ facilities was not significant because most are on the Mississippi River, away from the main brunt of the flooding.

Firms’ biggest concern is the impact on their employees, he said.

Federal agencies are providing assistance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Aug. 29 said it had distributed $385 million to individuals and families. That includes $277 million in grants to help pay for temporary rental housing, home repairs and other needs. FEMA says more than 128,000 people and households had registered for aid.

奥巴马总统宣布20个路易斯安那州教区为灾难地区，允许居民寻求联邦援助。

截至8月29日,据当地媒体5400家,主人说with flood damage signed up for the state’s new “Shelter at Home” program, an outgrowth of 2012’s Superstorm Sandy “Rapid Repairs” program in New York. It provides eligible registrants up to $15,000 worth of free repairs to remain in their homes as they complete or assess permanent fixes.

The state on Aug. 27 tapped AECOM as program manager to provide funds to homeowners it deems eligible and to manage contractors’ work quality. Concern over repairs was voiced by homeowners during Superstorm Sandy, say media reports.

FEMA is funding at least 75% of the program cost, estimated at $200 million but likely higher.

The Federal Highway Administration on Aug. 18 made $2 million in emergency-relief funds available to Louisiana to assist with road and bridge repairs. Administrator Gregory Nadeau said the funds are “the first installment of federal resources available to Louisiana to reopen all roads.”

Estimated road damage exceeds $10 million. “Many of our roads were overtopped. And, in some areas, the water stayed on them for an extended period of time—in fact, some of them [as of Aug. 26] are still under water, ” Mobley says. That probably eroded the base of those roads, which will need repair, he adds.

船长肖恩·威尔逊（Shawn Wilson）说，截至8月25日，路易斯安那州的运输和发展部已进行了2,000多次桥梁检查。一位发言人通过电子邮件说，截至8月24日，六个桥梁已经停止使用并等待紧急维修。没有人在州际或主要动脉上。Dotd曾说过，8月20日，该州的所有州际公路都是开放的。

Thomas Sands, a senior adviser with Dawson and Associates, says unbuilt Army Corps of Engineers’ projects may get a new look, such as a Comite diversion canal, near Baker and Zachary, La. Congress authorized the project but hasn’t appropriated funds for it.

“That would have provided some degree of protection for part of the area,” says Sands, former commander of the Corps’ Lower Mississippi Valley Division.

但是，总的来说，他指出：“这是另一种情况，没有魔法棒可以挥舞着，并且在夜间 - 可以实现这一区域的解决方案。”