Homes Not Elevated Following Hurricanes

Posted: Mar 22, 2010 6:20 PM by Letitia Walker

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A large number of Louisiana homeowners who

got up to $30,000 to raise their homes out of the danger from

floods after Hurricane Katrina have not jacked up their properties,

a federal housing inspector general has found.

A recent report by the inspector general's office for the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development found that 158 out of

199 properties it inspected had not been elevated - even though

they were supposed to and got about $3.8 million for the work.

Robin Keegan, a top state recovery official who oversees Road

Home, the state's home-rebuilding program, said the state was

"aware of the low compliance rate" with the elevation grants and

that it was taking action.

Since 2007, the Road Home has handed out $800 million in

elevation grants to 27,291 homeowners.