Floodproofing/Retrofitting Committee

Pat Skinner,
Disaster Programs Coordinator
LSU AgCenter - Cooperative Extension Service
Room 215D Human Ecology Building, LSU
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
225-578-2910
pskinner@agcenter.lsu.edu

Larry Buss, CFM
Chairman, NFPC
US Army COE - Omaha District
106 S. 15th St.
Omaha, NE 68102-1618
402-221-4417 / Fax: -3408
larry.s.buss@usace.army.mil

2007-2008 Goals and Objectives

1. DEVELOP EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND RESOURCES

1.1. Produce Conferences and Workshops

1.1.1. Plan for National Floodproofing Conference IV in November, 2008 – in New Orleans; engage sponsors and local partners; develop program
1.1.2. Conduct workshops on dry floodproofing of non-residential structures.
1.1.3. Enhance presence of flood proofing at the ASFPM annual conferences.
1.1.4. Define a role for floodproofing education as part of the National Response Plan; seek funding from FEMA in post-Presidential disaster declarations to conduct specific workshops for property owners to discuss flood proofing techniques to aid in sustainable disaster recovery

1.2. Promote Risk-Wise Behavior (SDR, Grand Challenge #6)

1.2.1. Make floodproofing technical information and articles available on the Committee's ASFPM web pages

1.2.1.1. Post on the Committee’s web site a copy of the 2nd Edition, “Local Flood Proofing Programs” developed by the Corps of Engineers National Nonstructural/Flood Proofing Committee; seek funding to publish and print the document for distribution.

1.2.2. Develop messaging for Risk-Wise Behavior

1.2.2.1. Develop messaging that conveys flood risk more effectively to flood plain occupants and promotes the concept of building to a higher standard than the NFIP's 1% annual chance minimum standard.
1.2.2.2. Develop messaging that conveys the need for levees that protect urban areas to provide greater than 100-year protection and the need for floodplain management and insurance requirements to remain in levee-protected areas.
1.2.2.3. Develop messaging that conveys benefits to consumer and community of using of all flood proofing techniques and specifically raised floor (non-floodwater-excluding) foundations. Include cost-comparison data in messaging.

1.2.3. Make available, through the ASFPM or an affiliated Web site resource lists of floodproofing contractors, manufacturers, installations, damage prevented, and funding mechanisms

2. IMPROVE THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF FLOODPROOFING

2.1. Support the program entitled “National Program to Test and Certify Flood Proofing and Flood Fighting Products”

2.2. Promote and support development of systems and documentation that supports sound flood mitigation practice.

2.2.1. Support development of systems and protocols by which consumers can select, and building officials can recognize, flood-resistant building materials
2.2.2. Support FEMA’s efforts to revise and develop new Floodplain Management Technical Bulletins.
2.2.3. Promote and support development of new concepts in flood and wind resistant foundations for Gulf Coastal communities

2.3. Review and assess the benefits of on-site flood damage prevention programs and methods, including protection to less than 100-year level.

2.3.1. Utilize results of Repetitive Loss Area Analyses to guide implementation of on-site flood protection measures; develop pilot project guidelines for federal mitigation funding.
2.3.2. Monitor and assess effectiveness of FEMA's Mitigation Reconstruction Pilot and subsequent policy development.
2.3.3. Assist Corps Non-Structural Flood Proofing Committee with identifying non-structural flood protection projects and integrating them into Gulf Coast protection and restoration plans (post Katrina/Rita)

2006 - 2007 Status Report

DEVELOP EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND RESOURCES

Plan for a National Floodproofing Conference (NFPC-IV) in 2008
The Committee leadership, after consulting Corps NFPC and ASFPM Executive Office, has selected New Orleans as the site for NFPC-IV. Dates in November are being explored, in an attempt to avoid the peak of hurricane season. ASFPM Executive is developing a scoping document and soliciting agency sponsors. Committee leadership is assembling a local hosting committee.

Promote Risk-Wise Behavior (SDR Grand Challenge #6)
Committee co-chair Larry Buss developed a Katrina Recovery Advisory for Homeowners. That fact sheet urges returning residents to recognize that areas inside the levees are in the floodplain and to give careful consideration to true risk when rebuilding. The paper is published on the Corps NFPC site and on the committee’s web page. The recovery advisory has been followed up with a series of articles in the Corps “Planning Ahead” Newsletter, raising the awareness of non-structural flood protection within the Corps.

Messages related to policies needing to take future conditions and levee protection into account – and that that is not done adequately by the FIRM - is being incorporated in presentations made by committee members and beginning to be published, such as in the FEMA-sponsored “Build Safer Stronger Smarter” educational initiative launched at ASFPM’s Mission Mitigation conference in April, 2007. In addition, accounting for future conditions and levee protection easily find their way into the Education and Outreach section of NAI workshops.

Southern Pine Council’s flood damage prevention campaign, called "Build to a Higher Standard", promotes the advantages of raised pier-and-beam or crawlspace foundations to Gulf Coast builders and homeowners. In addition, the SPC is active in Gulf Coast hurricane recovery efforts, conducting raised floor builder seminars, advocating improved building standards and participating in the planning process for community redevelopment. Raised-floor is an NAI campaign, providing a no-fill alternative to achieving elevation.

The committee presented “Build Back Smarter” sessions at both ASFPM Mission Mitigation and the Louisiana Floodplain Management Association Annual meeting. The committee is also hosting an early-bird session on non-structural opportunities in gulf coast recovery at ASFPM’s Norfolk conference.

The Corps’ “Local Flood Proofing Programs” 2nd edition (2005) was made available in PDF as a “Report”, at https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/nfpc . The committee recommends pursuing funds for printing this as a publication. In the meantime it will be provided through a link on the committee’s web page.

Make available, through the ASFPM or an affiliated Web site, such as the Virtual Mall at LouisianaFloods.org, resource lists of floodproofing contractors, manufacturers, installations, damage prevented, and funding mechanisms.
The Virtual Mall is on-line but has not expanded during Katrina/Rita recovery. New, special purpose resources for helping consumers find contractors are emerging. Louisiana has been developing a database of professionals licensed in Louisiana to provide building and building-related services. The LSU AgCenter, owner of LouisianaFloods.org and its Virtual Mall, is participating in the development of the Road Home Professional Rebuilding Registry and will inherit the resource. The Southern Pine Council provides a builder registry for professionals who are qualified to design or build raised-floor houses (not to elevate existing houses) http://www.raisedfloorliving.com/builderpro.shtml.

IMPROVE THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF FLOODPROOFING

Support development of a National program to test Floodproofing/flood-fighting products
The National Program that was initiated by the Corps of Engineers National Nonstructural Flood Proofing Committee and now consists of a joint effort by ASFPM, Underwriters Laboratories and the US Army Corps of Engineers National Non-Structural Flood Proofing Committee has progressed. This program, which is 100% funded by product vendors/manufacturers, currently is open to any product that fits the category of temporary barriers. Water testing was recently completed at the Corps’ Engineering Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi of a product called Metalith, manufactured by Infrastructure Defense Technologies of Belvidere, Illinois. Management of the testing/labeling program moved from the committee to ASFPM Executive Office following NFPC-III in fall, 2005.

Promote and support development of systems by which consumers can select, and building officials can recognize, flood-resistant building materials
FEMA was poised following the Madison meeting to refine the NES/ICC-ES protocol for testing the flood resistance properties of building elements. (http://www.icc-es.org/Criteria/Protocol/Protocol-Flood-Resistance%20Properties.htm), working with Oak Ridge/Tuskegee. Oak Ridge/Tuskegee had been involved in testing the resistance of materials and assemblies. Because the International Codes require use of flood resistant materials below BFE, it is important to have a system for certifying that a product is flood resistant. The 2005 hurricanes interrupted progress on this initiative and amplified the need for flood-damage resistant materials. Homes built to compliant elevations in levee-protected areas flooded several feet deep and must now anticipate flooding above the BFE. Use of flood-damage resistant materials above BFE can reduce the level of damage from such events. Following on studies done from 1998-2005 by Oak Ridge National Laboratories and Tuskegee Institute, FEMA is working to update the NFIP Technical Bulletin 2-93 on flood-resistant materials. In addition, FEMA is soliciting information from some industry and trade groups to explore new findings.

Review and assess the benefits of on-site flood damage prevention, including protection to less than 100-year level
The committee has been very active in bringing on-site flood protection to the Gulf Coast Katrina/Rita recovery area in the form of defining significant opportunities for Non-Structural Alternatives in the Corps’ coastal restoration and protection plans for Louisiana and Mississippi.

Monitor implementation of FEMA's Mitigation Reconstruction Pilot and subsequent policy development.
“ Mitigation Reconstruction” was authorized by FEMA for Hurricane Katrina, Rita and Wilma HMGP funds. As of May 14, 2007, no construction projects under HMGP had been approved in Louisiana, but M-R projects are included in community applications. Mississippi has pilots planned in Pascagoula and Waveland. The restriction on size of the replacement house (NLT 110% of original) is having a negative impact on interest.