Paul Rainwater is coming to speak at Veterans Day Program at South Beau ROTC program. on Thursday, Nov. 9, at 1:30 p.m.
Over the past 30 years, Rainwater has distinguished himself as one of the nation’s most experienced infrastructure/disaster recovery funding professionals, working at the local, state and federal level.
He helped design and then led the Louisiana Road Home Program – the largest housing and mitigation reconstruction programs in U.S. history. He directed response efforts during the BP oil spill and negotiated recovery efforts after the response. More recently, following the 2016 floods, 2020-21 Hurricane’s Laura/Ida in Louisiana, he worked with Governor John Bel Edwards to secure additional federal recovery funds. He has worked on recovery programs following hurricanes Sandy, Harvey, Maria, Michael, and New Mexico s recent historic fires.
In response to floods in New Orleans in 2017, then Mayor Mitch Landrieu appointed him as Interim Director of the New Orleans Sewer and Waterboard to lead the agency responsible for pumping flood waters out during storms, he directed emergency repairs and reset the agency during a critical time.
Through successful congressional testimony, hewas responsible for the appropriation of more than $20 BN in FEMA and HUD programs approved for Louisiana after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike.
Earlier in his career, he served as an advisor to Governor Kathleen Blanco, Legislative Director for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu’s office, as Chief of Staff for Louisiana Governor Jindal’s administration and as Executive Director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). He also retired as a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and Louisiana National Guard, earning a Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal and Combat Action Badge for deployments to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
