New Orleans, LA
Post-Hurricane Katrina Evaluations, St. Bernard Parish
Scope/Solutions
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated St. Bernard Parish, located east of New Orleans, with high winds, heavy rains, and flooding due to failure of levees surrounding the parish. SGH evaluated the parish’s schools and municipal buildings, including fire and public works facilities to identify and quantify damage caused by winds, flooding, and rain to assist the parish in recovering reconstruction funds from its insurers.
SGH worked with AccuWeather to analyze wind, storm surge, flood, and rainfall data and establish a timeline for these events for each of over forty sites. Our analysis, coupled with our field assessment of building roof and facade damage, allowed us to determine whether damage was caused by wind, rain, or flooding.
We surveyed twenty-six school facilities and over forty parish-owned municipal buildings including fire stations, civic auditorium, and historic structures to evaluate damage to roofs (metal roofing panels and built-up, shingled, and single-ply systems), damage to facades (brick masonry, stucco, metal panels, windows, and curtain walls), and structural damage.
SGH prepared a damage and causation report for each site. In the reports, we list storm damage and opine on the likely cause of storm damage.
Project Summary
2008
Key team members
