Abstract
Hurricane Katrina devastated a large portion of the City of New Orleans in 2005. Extensive long-term flooding was caused by failure of the hurricane protection system. However many residents of New Orleans are victims of repetitive flooding. This flooding is not due to levee failure and storm surge, but rather usually from heavy rainfall. This paper focuses on a project by the Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology (CHART). CHART's objective is to support a sustainable Louisiana in light of natural, technological, and environmental risks. Teams of sociologists, engineers and urban planners assist in the development of best practices for reducing risks and in implementing these practices to achieve comprehensive community sustainability.
The specific project of interest focuses on working with small neighborhoods in the New Orleans area to help reduce the numbers of repetitive flood losses. This is done through an area analysis, outreach and education. A neighborhood is selected for an area analysis based on having a high density of repetitively flooded homes. The team works with the neighborhood association and the city council person representing the area. Planned drainage improvements are studied to assess the improvement's impact on the particular homes in the study area. In some cases, historic rain gage data is also used in this assessment. Repetitive loss homeowners answer a questionnaire about their flood experiences. Flood insurance claims are obtained. A series of neighborhood meetings are held with the objective of educating each individual owner as to their best flood mitigation plan.