City of New Orleans and UNO-CHART
Using Repetitive Loss
Area Analysis as a
Mitigation Planning Tool
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
City of New Orleans 1
Flooding from heavy rain events is a reality in New
Orleans.
An
nu
al R
ain
fall
• 62 inches
Sin
ce 1
996 • 42
flood events
Re
petitive L
oss • 3,861 RL
properties
• 1,230 SRLproperties
City of New Orleans 2
The City of New Orleans is investing in
infrastructure, mitigation, and policy to reduce flood
risk.
$14.5 B
Hurricane risk reduction system
$1.7 B
Interior drainage projects
$2.4 B
Capital improvement program
$300 M
Resilience projects
$2.5 M
S&WB green infrastructure projects
227 SRL properties mitigated by federal
grants by 2020;
$5 M in residential green infrastructure
projects
Minimum elevation requirements
Lot coverage
regulations
Stormwatermanagement requirements
City of New Orleans 3
The Repetitive Loss Area encompasses the entire
city with heavy concentrations of SRL properties
located in NRHP Historic Districts.
City of New Orleans 4
23%
4%
73%
Change to properties in the Special Flood Hazard Area
Remain Added Removed
95078
55197
957
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000
Zone X
AE
VE
Properties by flood zone in 2016 FIRM
Properties
New flood maps adopted in 2016 removed many
properties from special flood hazard areas.
City of New Orleans 5
Mitigation planning requires data on entire
building stock in Orleans Parish
57 properties
Orleans Parish
RLAA 2019
150,000 properties
• Comprehensive look at
structural risk
• Searchable, publically
available data
• Integration with mapping
software
• CRS Activity 500 credit
City of New Orleans 6
Background: Orleans Parish has a relatively high
concentration of Repetitive Loss Properties
City of New Orleans 7
Repetitive Loss Area Analysis
Step 1 – Advise all properties in RL area
Step 2 – Contact agencies/organizations that may have
plans/studies that could impact flooding
Step 3 – Visit each building and collect basic data
Step 4 – Review/determine mitigation approaches
Step 5 - Document the findings.
CRS: 510 Floodplain Management Planning
City of New Orleans 8
To scale up the process, we needed to leverage
existing systems to complete Step 1.
City of New Orleans 9
Digital engagement tools through the City’s NOLA
Ready platform used to kick-start data collection
City of New Orleans 10
To achieve parish-wide coverage, technology was
utilized to provide site information
City of New Orleans 11
The RLAA will produce a searchable product with
site-specific data embedded in the mapping tool. Example: Gentilly District
City of New Orleans 12
Public outreach on the RLAA will be conducted in
concert with the city’s broader engagement efforts
around flood risk
City of New Orleans 13
Data collected will be used by multiple parish
agencies to support ongoing initiatives
City of New Orleans 14
Ready for Rain, launched in 2018, aims to educate
residents about flood risk, flood insurance, and
mitigation options
City of New Orleans 15
Marketing materials, social media, and community
outreach will create greater public awareness
City of New Orleans 16
We intend to utilize the RLAA and Ready for Rain to
create multiple impacts in the community
Lower premiums,
increase coverage
Reduce risk to
homes & businesses
Foster an engaged
public
City of New Orleans and UNO-CHART
Using Repetitive Loss
Area Analysis as a
Mitigation Planning Tool
Wednesday, April 3, 2019