By Richard Wall
During the seven months since Hurricane Katrina, most homeowners in New Orleans’ levee-flooded areas have been waiting for FEMA’s new advisory flood map so they would know what new elevation requirements they would have to meet in order to get federally backed flood insurance, mortgages or bank loans to rebuild. In mid-April FEMA, which manages the National Flood Insurance Program, gave them what they were waiting for, and it was unexpectedly good news for the beleaguered homeowners.
The new flood maps are the same as the old ones established in 1984, with an added stipulation that new houses and those being renovated that were more than 50% damaged must be elevated three feet above grade. This provision should eliminate new slab-on-grade construction and cause some of these existing flooded structures to be torn down. Elevating a heavily damaged slab house is cost-prohibitive, even with possible grants of $30,000 for the elevation.
The Times-Picayune of New Orleans says the new FEMA flood map is essentially an admission that faulty levees maintained by the federal government were responsible for the massive flooding. Otherwise, FEMA’s new maps would have major changes in required elevations, pegging Katrina as the source of flooding, thus requiring a new yardstick for the 100-year flood occurrence standard.
The levees, with a new estimate of $9 billion in repair cost rather than the previous price tag of $3 billion, aren’t expected to be up to the task of adequately protecting the New Orleans basin until 2010. So for the next five years, rebuilders beware. The levees require major reconstruction of 36 miles of floodwalls and repairs of other substantial design and maintenance flaws that Katrina’s Category 3 storm surge revealed.
New Regulations Meet Old Culture
It will take about two years for the FEMA flood map to become law, but it gives the green light to many homeowners and contractors who had been thinking that a 10-foot elevation requirement might be in the works for some areas. The rebuilding, which had been previously limited to people who just couldn’t stand to wait any longer, will surely increase. Much of it is being done by individuals with a few tools and a house that needs a lot of work. Whether they conform to the state’s newly adopted IRC requirements is doubtful.
"You can't regulate emotion," says Ken Ford, who's been to New Orleans five times since Hurricane Katrina as the National Home Builders Association's program specialist working toward recovery with local builders and government officials. "We're dealing with cultural issues that don't easily adapt to change. They're going to rebuild, in spite of any new government regulations. A lot of the rebuilding that is going on is illegal. I can understand their desire."
The median age of a New Orleans house is 54 years, or built in 1952 when there wasn't a hint of modern codes. Now, any home more than 50% damaged must be rebuilt using the new codes—a law Ken says is largely being ignored at the moment. And local officials are generous in their damage assessments. For example, any two-story home is routinely considered less than 50% damaged because the top half is okay, even if the bottom floor is a twisted, soggy mess. Homes less than 50% damaged are also exempt from FEMA’s new three-foot elevation requirement.
Those Who Can Do, Teach
To make rebuilding matters in New Orleans worse, no government seems to have put much consideration or money into educating the population about rebuilding correctly. That's why Ken is planning his sixth trip to town from Washington, and that's why the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans (HBAGNO) has decided to focus its immediate attention on filling that information void.
In fact, the local, state, and national HBAs have teamed up to educate everyone involved—individual homeowners, local builders, mortgage companies, insurers, local building officials and suppliers—on how to rebuild right. Ken helped HBAGNO set up community fairs on rebuilding to get information in the hands of people whose homes needed work. The national organization advised on dealing with the bureaucracy of emergencies. Funds, some donated from other HBAs from around the country, are being directed toward public education campaigns.
The HBAGNO began holding seminars for professionals on the new codes a week before they became law. "We invited parish code and permitting people, and we had 50 of those folks here," says Jon Luther, executive vice president of the HBAGNO. "Then the week after Mardi Gras, we drilled down even deeper into the new codes. We can do our members no better service for the next five years than to educate them on these new codes and other legislative things coming down the pike."
Moving Forward Backwards
The state's hustle to enact new building codes puts tremendous pressure on builders—professionals and DIYers alike—to absorb the often-complicated requirements. And if not for the fast action of Randy Noel, a builder in LaPlace, Louisiana, located about 10 miles west of New Orleans, local builders might have been left out of the codes decisions entirely.
Randy, who is the Louisiana representative to the NAHB, heard rumors that there was going to be a special legislative session on codes. So he went up to Baton Rouge, says Jon, who also attended some of the legislative sessions on codes.
"Randy goes into the first meeting, and he sees the insurance industry people there and he sees the top lobbyist in the state sitting next to them," says Jon. "And he thinks, 'Uh-oh, it's a done deal.' But he got in there and lobbied to make sure the codes legislation was balanced and affordable. He basically camped out in Baton Rouge for 14 days while they were deciding these codes."
Some local builders say the state's backwards approach could make compliance even more of a challenge. Unlike hurricane-resistant code changes in Florida, where the building community and citizens were prepared about the new codes before implementation, Louisiana has enacted the codes first, with almost no education before or after.
"It took Florida seven to ten years to ramp up to get those codes in place," says Jon. "We did it in two weeks. And it went into effect in Orleans Parish on December 29, 2005. Immediately, we had to educate a lot of people."
Richard Wall is a freelance writer, editor and producer.
| 
