BATON ROUGE - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had approved the first part of an action plan on how to use flood recovery money.

The first appropriation is for about $438 million.

"This is great news for nearly 200,000 families who were impacted by historic floods in 2016," Governor John Bel Edwards said. "We know we still have a long way to go, but this is reassuring for families and businesses who are ready to rebuild their homes."

More than $385 million has been allocated to an owner-occupied housing rehabilitation program. $19 million will be used for affordable rental housing programs. $11.4 million is being set aside for economic revitalization programs. The remaining money, nearly $22 million, will be used for administration and planning activities.

The HUG approval letter states that at least 80 percent of the total amount must be spent within the six "most impacted areas." Those areas include East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Ascension, Tangipahoa, Ouachita, and Lafayette Parishes.

Governor Edwards has made six trips to Washington to lobby for flood relief for citizens impacted by floods in March and August 2016. The state requested $3.7 billion in assistance. A second appropriation for assistance was granted in December 2016.

You can read the full approval letter here.