Doubts remain after FEMA flood maps issued

According information I learned while listening to a conversation between WWL host Garland Robinette, Toni Wendel of the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans, and a land surveyor who called in, the new FEMA building guidelines are nothing more than the same old 1984 base flood elevation determinations, plus three feet.

I know it's a difficult task to match the real elevations to historic rain-event flooding and the possibility of another flood event, but what's the product of all that hard work? To simply tack 3 feet on to outdated elevations?

There have been a considerable number of reports of subsidence which has occurred since 1984. Furthermore, applying the 1984 flood elevations, plus three feet, is a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn't take into account the widely varying topography of the city.

We discovered in Katrina's floodwaters that the city's elevation is not uniform at all, but varies from block to block, and from lot to lot.

New Orleanians might be grateful that FEMA finally produced guidelines. Now they can rebuild and, very importantly, still get flood insurance coverage. We need to be concerned, however, about preventing property damage from a flood event in the future. We want the flood insurance, but we really want to not have to use it again in the future.

I don't have the answer, but certainly if people are going to have to hire surveyors to measure the elevation of their homes, there ought to be a way to apply a more sensible formula for determining how much people will have to elevate their homes to prevent damage from another flooding event the next time the levees fail.

Additionally, we need people at the federal level to be thinking about Category 5 storm protection, and when they do that, we need them to appreciate the fact that levees are no good without massive restoration of coastal marshes.