Frontline Blog

In August 2016, the town of Livingston was hit with severe flooding. Within 24 hours, the district received 33 inches of rain, leading to floods ranging from two inches to nine feet. Repairing the damage to the 17 flooded schools was estimated to cost up to $350 million, 90 percent of which would be covered by FEMA. However, Livingston Parish was still responsible for funding for the remaining ten percent — a difficult mandate for a district with an annual budget of about $250 million.