FEMA Presents its Publication Detailing the History of Building Elevation in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS – Federal Emergency Management Agency historic preservation specialists will discuss the recent publication, The History of Building Elevation in New Orleans, on Monday, July 29, 2013, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Rosa F. Keller Library & Community Center, 4300 South Broad Street in New Orleans’ Broadmoor neighborhood. 

“Home and building elevations are a part of New Orleans’ history, dating back to the founding of the city; however, until now, very little has been written about it,” said FEMA Louisiana Recovery Office Executive Director Mike Womack. “Following Hurricane Katrina, FEMA has worked with the state and city to comply with federal historic preservation laws while protecting their residents by elevating above floodwaters. As part of the process, The History of Building Elevation in New Orleans was created.”

FEMA produced this book to offset effects to historic properties caused by FEMA-funded grants as required by the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106. All federally funded projects must follow these regulations under NHPA as well as other environmental laws and executive orders.

Written and produced by URS Group in close collaboration with FEMA historic preservation staff and the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office, the book lays out a broad historical perspective on the topic of elevation from its inception in the city of New Orleans to present day.

Local collections and archives were instrumental in the development of this book, including the New Orleans Public Library and Archives, the Historic New Orleans Collection and the Louisiana State Museum and Archives. Additionally, long-time New Orleans elevation businesses provided information not available elsewhere.

An electronic version of the book is available at www.fema.gov/latro under Program Updates.

Editors: For more information on Louisiana disaster recovery, visit www.fema.gov/latro. Follow FEMA online at www.twitter.com/femalro, blog.fema.gov, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.            

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.