Agency assessment teams view storm damage

Preliminary numbers show 82 Bossier Parish residences and businesses received some degree of damage when severe storms that included at least one tornado blew through Bossier Parish on Saturday evening, April 14.

Those figures were released following an assessment tour of stricken areas this week by inspection teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Governors Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP).

Structures receiving damage that meets criteria of the agencies include: 

• 57 single family homes; 22 considered affected, 29 minor, six major and none destroyed.
• 12 manufactured homes; three affected, four minor, four major and one destroyed.
• 13 businesses with minor damage; most insured. Businesses not insured not damaged over one-half of assessed value. 

Director of the Bossier Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Ian Snellgrove said FEMA requirements for individual assistance (IA) has different criteria than SBA.

“FEMA figures will be given to GOHSEP as well as the SBA figure so they can determine if the governor can ask for any assistance through the SBA or IA program,” Snellgrove explained.

“The way it is looking now the only way any of our residents will be eligible to apply for SBA loans is if we are included in what is called contiguous with another damaged area of the same storm that does qualify, like if Caddo Parish was to receive funding,” he said.

“(Bossier Parish) currently does not meet the damage needed for SBA loans,” he added. 

Residents will be informed as soon as information is available or if approval for funding is made available from FEMA, SBA or GOHSEP, Snellgrove said.