Louisiana’s Strategic Adaptions for Future Environments (LA SAFE) is offering public meetings in six coastal Louisiana parishes to discuss parish-specific planning for future flood risks to communities.
LA SAFE is a $40 million initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These funds were set aside to help residents and businesses in the the six parishes most affected by flooding from Hurricane Isaac in 2012. Those parishes are Plaquemines, Terrebonne, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, Lafourche, and St. Tammany. As part of the HUD grant, the LA SAFE program plans to implement one pilot project in each parish by September 2022.
Hosted by the Louisiana Office of Community Development’s Disaster Recovery Unit, in partnership with the Foundation for Louisiana’s Coastal Resilience Leverage Fund, these meetings offer residents the opportunity to be included in the planning process for adaptation to future changes in land loss and flood risk in their communities. The goal of these meetings is to develop an adaptation plan for each of the six parishes by the end of the year. Each parish will receive $5-7 million for the pilot project.
These meetings will discuss many issues, including residential and commercial development regulations and the 2017 Coastal Master Plan – particularly the non-structural aspect of flood-proofing, elevating, and voluntary acquisition of properties. The Master Plan puts the decision-making on which properties to target on each parish.
The Master Plan considers properties for either flood-proofing, elevation, or voluntary acquisition based on expected flood depths due to a 100-year flood event. (Read more about the draft 2017 Master Plan here.)
- Floodproofing: Recommended for non-residential structures in areas with flood depths of 3 feet or less.
- Elevation: Recommended for residential structures in areas with flood depths between 3 and 14 feet (including two feet of freeboard).
- Voluntary Acquisition: Recommended for residential structures which would need to be elevated greater than 14 feet .
Each meeting will begin with dinner at 6:00 pm followed by presentations and discussions with participants. Child care will be offered as well. Child care and transportation are available for the meeting. If you are in need of these services in order to attend the meetings, please call 225-772-1372. Meetings are set to conclude at 8:00 pm.
Meeting Schedule
Plaquemines Parish: Monday, March 27, 2017
Port Sulphur YMCA
278 Civic Dr, Port Sulphur, LA
Terrebonne Parish: Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center
346 Civic Center Blvd, Houma, LA
Jefferson Parish: Wednesday, March 29, 2017
The Alario Center
200 Segnette Blvd, Westwego, LA
St. John the Baptist Parish: Thursday, March 30, 2017
St. John the Baptist Parish Community Center
2900 US-51, Laplace, LA
Lafourche Parish: Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Mathews Government Complex
4876 Hwy 1, Mathews, LA
St. Tammany Parish: Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Northshore High School Library
100 Panther Dr, Slidell, LA
To learn more about LA SAFE, visit their website at lasafe.la.gov.