Community Resiliency,Morganza to the Gulf

and

Community Resiliency

• Resiliency is frequently defined as the capacity of human and natural/physical systems to adapt to and recover from change.

• This change can be the result of an ongoing event occurring over a long period of time (land loss) or the result of a single specific event (such as a hurricane).

Houma Metropolitan Statistical Area

(MSA)

Lafourche Interior Parish,

created in 1807, included the

present day area of both

Lafourche and Terrebonne

Parishes.

Originally founded as a

trading post in the 1700’s,

Thibodaux was named the Parish

Seat in 1807 and was

incorporated in 1830.

Terrebonne Parish was

established in 1822, from

part of Lafourche Interior

Parish.

Houma, the parish

seat, was founded in

1834 and incorporated in

1848.

Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes

Today the two parishes form the Houma MSA

Population

• Upward trend before and after hurricanes of 2005

Households

• Upward trend before and after hurricanes of 2005

Sales Tax Receipts

“Houma employment is projected to grow at 2.2 percent annually over the next two years. Expansions by Bollinger Shipyards and Edison Chouest lead the way.”

2007 Outlook for Louisiana’s Agriculture

LSU Sea Grant

The Gulf of Mexicoat a Glance

Gulf of Mexico AllianceNOAA

2008

Port Fourchon

• $1,501 million in business sales

• $351.4 million in household earnings in MSA attributable to port

• 8,169 jobs in MSA dependent on port

• $12,053,899 in sales tax collected in MSA because of port (doesn’t include direct sales taxes or property taxes)

Hurricane Protection

The residents of south Louisiana need storm protection.

Terrebonne Parish is experiencing the highest rate of land loss in coastal Louisiana, and communities in the lower parish are often flooded from extreme high tides and small storms.

Wetland restoration alone cannot do the job; storm surge barriers are also needed.

Hurricane Protection

Consider the entire system.

Hurricane protection systems must be built and maintained so that the ecosystem remains dynamic and functional.

We must also ensure that protection and restoration actions do not induce flooding in low-lying communities.

How Communities Can Minimize Their Flooding Risk

Use smart growth; prohibit development in wetland areas and require buffer zones near levees.

Communities should strictly enforce National Flood Insurance Program regulations and use appropriate building regulations.

How Communities Can Minimize Their Flooding Risk

Smart growth.

Wetland areas inside the hurricane protection system need to remain intact and undeveloped.

How Communities Can Minimize Their Flooding Risk

Smart growth.

Once a national and state commitment to building a levee is made, local governments must enforce appropriate land use and zoning regulations to ensure that the system, once built, contributes to the long-term sustainability of the region.

How Communities Can Minimize Their Flooding Risk

Flood insurance.

According to FEMA, a home has a 26% chance of being damaged by a flood during the course of a 30 year mortgage, compared to a 9% chance of damage from fire.

Given the base risk, all residents of coastal Louisiana should purchase flood insurance, even if they live inside a hurricane protection system.

How Communities Can Minimize Their Flooding Risk

Elevating & retrofitting structures.

Hazard mitigation funds can be used to elevate, retrofit, or buy out homes that have suffered damage from flooding.

Adoption of these kinds of measures has the added benefit of lowering flood insurance premiums for homeowners as well as reducing storm damages.

Elevating and Retrofitting HomesHazard Mitigation

• $45/ sq-ft for houses on piers.

Elevating and Retrofitting HomesHazard Mitigation

• $71/sq-ft on slab homes

How Communities Can Minimize Their Flooding Risk

Building codes.

In 2007 the state enacted the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code.

This new building code adopted provisions from national and international codes and was designed to ensure that new construction could better withstand hurricane winds.

When used in concert with structural elevation, the code will result in substantially safer buildings.

How Communities Can Minimize Their Flooding Risk

FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plans.

All 64 Louisiana parishes plus an additional 14 communities received funds from FEMA to develop hazard mitigation plans.

Hurricanes and storms were the main hazards addressed in the plans, which made recommendations for retrofitting critical facilities to make them more disaster resistant.

How Communities Can Minimize Their Flooding Risk

Evacuation routes.

We need to make sure that evacuation routes are raised where necessary and adequately armored so that residents may safely evacuate and return after a storm passes.

DOTD is working with the Louisiana State Police and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to continually improve emergency plans for hurricane evacuation.

• Restoration and non-structural measures can reduce the risk from storm surge.

• But in most areas, the risk of storm surge flooding will remain unacceptably high, even after restoration and non-structural measures are factored in.

• To more fully protect these high risk areas, hurricane protection structures are recommended in order to provide more protection.

• Structural protection, such as Morganza to the Gulf , doesn’t just reduce risk associated with the design event, it reduces risk associated with more frequently occurring lesser events that would otherwise regularly disrupt regional production and economy.