Help wanted: With recovery efforts underway, the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness is urging anyone who can help to sign up and volunteer to clean and muck out homes damaged by the flooding in south Louisiana. Tens of thousands of homes are projected to have been damaged by historic, unprecedented flooding in the region. Families are in need of support, the office says. Volunteers can sign up online to help homeowners. LSU also is seeking volunteers to help serve meals to the university’s employees and their relatives who were impacted by the storm. The meals will be served in the Magnolia Room in the Student Union between 4-6:30 p.m. every night. Volunteers also can sign up online.
More time: The grace period for renewing flood insurance policies in south Louisiana parishes heavily damaged by flooding has been extended to 120 days, The Associated Press reports. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced the extension today, saying it’s giving policyholders “one less thing to worry about” while they’re trying to repair homes and respond to the disaster. Usually, homeowners have 30 days from when coverage ends to renew their insurance policies under the National Flood Insurance Program. The 120-day grace period applies to the 20 parishes included in the federal disaster declaration. The extension applies to flood insurance policies with a 30-day grace period that ends sometime between Aug. 11 and Sept. 10. FEMA says more than 25,000 flood insurance policyholders have submitted claims for losses during Louisiana’s catastrophic flooding so far.
Under threat: High water in Louisiana and Arkansas has put a damper on the nation’s rice harvest, CBS News reports. While much of Louisiana’s crop was in before record floods this month, Arkansas farmers had just started harvesting before rainy weather began last weekend. So far, the biggest losers are farmers whose fields are inundated and may not be able to harvest. Those who do succeed will find slightly higher prices. But economists say the weather isn’t bad enough to push up consumer prices for rice, or for beer and cereal that use rice as an ingredient. Arkansas produces half the nation’s rice, while Louisiana produces about 15%. Farmers fear that continued bad weather, or a Gulf Coast hurricane, could worsen problems before the rest of the crop is brought in. Read the full story.
