When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hammered the Gulf Coast, many flood protection structures became overwhelmed by the relentless fury of wind whipped waves, rising water levels and fast flowing river channels. More than one million people were displaced by the emergency evacuations.
Since then, the State of Louisiana has provided a Comprehensive Master Plan for long-term coastal protection and restoration. Aging flood control structures will be modified or replaced, flood management systems will become sustainable and other flood risks will be mitigated through technologies and procedures such as floodplain mapping and levee certification. This solid plan will leverage a commitment of available funding, materials and human resources to get an enormously difficult job done, but it will take years of dedicated cooperation and teamwork.
In the meantime, what will happen to over 200,000 evacuees who returned to flood damaged homes?
The repairs are time consuming, available workers are in short order, and construction prices are skyrocketing. Fortunately, help is available through sound financial advice and low-interest loans from agencies like the SBA, FDIC and NeighborWorks America programs, all of which coordinate the efforts of state and federal banking agencies to assist Louisianans in need.
That will help for now. What going to happen in the future?
Ultimately, larger and more reliable funding streams will be needed. That kind of capital will germinate from the Comprehensive Master Plan's show of confidence, persistence and dedication to make the best of the situation in a structured and logical pathway to success.
But, not everywhere can be helped at once. A line has to be drawn in the sand. Some lands won't become protected until many years have passed, if at all, and, on a personal level, this isn't just land. It's more important. It's people's lives. Last time, over 1400 people died.
Over 80% of coastal Louisiana is privately owned. Who's not going to get near-term flood protection? And how will this be decided? In the short-run, any decision is going to be controversial to say the least. For instance, maybe Lower Plaquemines Parish will fall victim to this triage-battlefield-type of thinking because the money could be better spent elsewhere on more people. That's the cold, wet, grim facts of hard reality.
Spending the available resources wisely is prudent, but completely abandoning these areas is not the answer. It would isolate these locales from long-term protection, preventing reasonable insurance rates, and slowly undermine the local economy. More needless tragedy would be created in the aftereffects of the flooding.
A reasonable method would be to ensure that flood insurance is made readily available to everyone while flood protection construction projects eventually make the best comprehensive structural and natural defenses. These projects should also protect outlying areas, albeit, realistically, at a lower priority in the overall scheme of planning and development.
Having the Comprehensive Master Plan is the first step in reducing flood insurance rates. Next, the state and local governments would need to strictly enforce accepted standards for flood control structures, building regulations and encroachment permits upon levees. Community support and involvement will be absolutely critical.
The National Flood Insurance Program may lower premiums by up to 45% for communities that actively and aggressively pursue a reduction in flood risk and damage potential. Some success paths include prohibiting development in high-risk areas, encouraging larger open floodplain areas and creating setback levees to add a buffer zone. These lands should be purchased from their owners, and since many of these lands were already affected by the floods, the sooner, the better. Of course, a fair buyout is preferred to avoid contentious land appropriations. Acquiring these land rights and easements, and, using an improved method of advanced planning, zoning and permitting will also help residents within the floodplain community to recover their lives.
We all want to help. Let's all do our part to help our neighbors in need. Support your local flood protection program.