Building Codes

             Pre-Hurricane Katrina building codes for flood protection were virtually non-existent in New Orleans. Protection against hurricanes was never a priority for New Orleans residents. While there are no statistics for how many residents individually furnished their homes, we can assume most homes were not wind and flood protected since most of the residents have an “It will not happen to me” attitude (Kunreuther, 2006. 2). Hurricane protection was not a priority segment of the government responsible for New Orleans either. The state of Louisiana did not create any building codes nor did it require local governments to enforce or develop local building plans. The city itself has also never created any building codes to minimize flood damage (Burby, 2006. 8).

The only building code required for lower lying areas of New Orleans was created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The code required flood insurance and a base flood elevation (BFE) for certain areas of the city (Lambert Advisory, 2006. 3).

 

 

 

 

Pre-Hurricane Katrina Background

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FEMA Building Inspection and Flood Zones

Sources: City of New Orleans

The white sections labeled B represent higher elevation areas in New Orleans where flood insurance and base flood is not required The BFE for low lying areas was last updated in 1984. The advisory BFE required all residential homes to raise their buildings 1.5 feet above the home’s nearest sidewalk, patio slab, or deck (Lambert Advisory, 2006. 9).   Because B zones were protected by levees and their elevation and have less than “1% chance of flood a year” (FEMA, 2006. par.12), FEMA did not require these areas to be protected. Buildings built before 1984 were also unprotected since the FEMA’s BFE applied the “grandfather” rule. Only homes that were hugely renovated or built after 1984 had to follow these rules.

 

Since over 90% of buildings in New Orleans were built after 1984, a relatively small number of houses actually had to comply to the FEMA standards (GNOCDC, 2000).

However, even homes that were built with the Base Flood Elevation, meant to protect homes from minor flood, were completely vulnerable against the strength of Hurricane Katrina. The levee breaks and storm surges flooded the city by much more than 1.5 feet. In reality, the Base Height Elevation was completely inconsequential for protecting homes in New Orleans.

 While studies done by the Research Council and Insurance Institute of Property Loss Reduction have shown that certain building codes can minimize some wind and water damage (Kunreuther, 2006. 14), it is unclear how much stricter building codes would have protected New Orleans home against floods resulting from levee breaks and overtopping.