Ten years after Katrina: 'People had to learn the hard way.'

By Nick Reiher

A view of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward today, ten years after floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina ravaged the historic neighborhood.

Ten years ago, on Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina raged into the Gulf of Mexico with winds in excess of 150 mph, battering coastal towns and resulting in 1,800 deaths and more than $67.8 billion in losses across six states, most notably in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. To date, it is the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Katrina also was the first time in a long while that New Orleans took a direct hit from a major storm, explained Bhola Dhume, who has retired after serving for several years as a code official for the Crescent City. Maybe that's why it took so long for some people to heed the mandatory evacuation order in New Orleans. And maybe that's why there had been no official statewide codes until after Katrina — and a few weeks later, Hurricane Rita — hit the region. Although no codes are strong enough to withstand Katrina's massive winds and storm surges, the same ones that wiped out dozens of New Orleans' levies and claimed more than 1,000 lives, Dhume said state officials woke up and adopted the 2006 versions of the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code (IRC). Just as importantly, Dhume said, the Louisiana legislature mandated jurisdictions within the state follow those codes to the letter; no more or less restrictive. State legislatures in Alabama and Mississippi also adopted the I-Codes statewide. But according to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety in its 2015 "Rating the States" report, those states weakened the mandates in one form or another. Mississippi "Most people in Mississippi don't like building codes," said Hank Rodgers, Building Official in D'Iberville, giving a hint of the struggle that state has had adopting more stricter regulations, even after Katrina. "But FEMA didn't suggest we adopt ICC codes when we rebuilt, they demanded it. They said you can opt out, but there's no guarantee of getting any federal funds to help rebuild. Six coastal counties were required to adopt the Codes, and five did. The sixth figured they were too far inland and didn't have as much damage anyway." The new ways caused a bit of a problem at first, agreed William Carrigee, Acting Building Official for the city of Waveland, Miss., who worked in Bay St. Louis during Katrina. "You can't teach an old dog new tricks, except with a stick." Although it took a little convincing by FEMA to get some reluctant Mississippians on board, Rodgers said once they saw the codes meant better, stronger and more resilient buildings, they softened their stance a bit. And it got officials to sort out how the IRC and the National Flood Insurance Program complemented each other, he said, which was a big help. "It always seems to take a catastrophe to change our ways," Rodgers said. "We've taken the position that building codes work. Inspections work." Still, the few code officials in Mississippi at that time thought the new wind standards were some 10 to 15 mph stronger than need be, especially since most of their buildings did fine under the Southern Standards Technical Document (SSTD) that was developed by ICC legacy organization Southern Building code Congress International. As with towns hit by Hurricane Sandy, most damage in along the Gulf Coast during Katrina was due to storm surges as high as 25 feet. And no code can protect against that, he noted. What also helped is insurance carriers, wary about new policies after Katrina, were more likely to write them if structures were built to code, Rodgers said. In Mississippi, state lawmakers debated the issue of statewide codes for nearly a decade after Katrina until 2014, when they adopted a building code law that governs construction of most residential buildings in the state. The law, which allowed municipalities to adopt one of the last three effective IRC code editions, became effective Aug. 1, 2014. However, it allowed municipalities to opt out of the requirements for adoption and enforcement within 120 days of the effective date, or Nov. 20 2014. "So guess what happened?" Carrigee asked. The IBHS said as of Dec. 31, 2014, 90 percent of the population in Mississippi's municipalities in Mississippi lives in areas that have not opted out of the new building code law. But they added some 50 percent of the state's population lives in unincorporated areas, governed by the respective county boards of supervisors, and the IBHS said they don't have data for those areas. Regardless, the IBHS also noted Mississippi has not yet established a statewide program for licensing or training of building officials, although funding for training through local governments is provided by the state. General contractors are the only trade required to obtain a license and the state has mechanisms to register complaints from the public and discipline contractors. Carrigee said that leads to some pretty informal enforcement. "You have a friend of your sister Susie's cousin doing inspections," he said. "Of course, he has no certifications." Carrigee said he taught a lot of code classes in the days following Katrina so officials who had the experience could get the certifications. Although Mississippi has made a lot of strides, Carrigee said they still have a long way to go. "We learned a lot from Katrina. If you take the time to explain it, and you have people listen, they understand the codes have helped us get better-built buildings," he explained. "But you're only as good as your enforcement. And right now, we have no requirements for enforcement." Alabama Effective Oct. 1, 2012, the IBHS said Alabama adopted the Alabama Energy and Residential Codes (AERC) for all jurisdictions statewide. The AERC is composed of the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and the 2009 IRC. Although the energy portion of the code is mandatory at the local level, local jurisdictions are permitted to continue enforcing different editions of residential building codes. However, the law requires that if jurisdictions have not previously adopted a residential building code and decide to adopt one, they must now adopt the AERC codes. The IBHS said enforcement aspects of the AERC are not clearly defined in the rule and/or can be considered nonexistent. However, they noted several coastal communities within the state have strong code adoption and enforcement programs. While Alabama has no statewide program to license building officials, the state requires licensing for general, plumbing, mechanical and electrical contractors, but not for roofing contractors. Mechanical and electrical contractors are required to obtain continuing education for license renewal. The IBHS noted Alabama has experienced devastating coastal hurricanes and inland tornadoes. "Adoption of a modern mandatory statewide residential code throughout the state will help establish uniformity in enforcement and application of the important code provisions," the report said. "It also will reduce losses to life and property in the event of severe storms, to which the state is highly vulnerable." Louisiana In its original "Rating the States" report in 2010, the IBHS lauded adoption of the Louisiana Uniform Construction Code, based on the 2006 editions of the IBC and IRC. The code mandates enforcement through building officials, plan reviewers and inspectors. It also provides a regulatory scheme for the application and issuance of building permits, certificates of occupancy, authority to charge fees, penalties for violating the building code and a complete system to administer the building codes effectively. There was a lot of blame to go around for the damage and deaths in Louisiana, especially in New Orleans, where improperly built levees broke under Katrina's storm surge. Of course, politics was a big problem as well. But when it came time to rebuild, Geoffrey Large, Building Code Administrator for Terrebonne Parish, said they looked to Hurricane-prone Florida for guidance. "We saw that since 2004, they had had five hurricanes, with at least one in a high category," he said. "Yet damage was less there than we had in Louisiana. And the only major difference was that Florida had 15 years of a statewide code, and enforced it. Then it was just a logical progression that led to us adopting a statewide code." And strong enforcement along with it, Large said. Code officials along the coastal areas of the state banded to form a code council to keep codes consistent throughout the parishes. That also helped keep contractors from cherry-picking among the parishes. "Louisiana lawmakers put aside political challenges and took the bold step of adopting the statewide code because it was the right thing to do," the 2010 IBHS report said. "Since then, the state has encountered the types of difficulties that typically accompany any new program," including struggling financially to establish, staff, and manage inspection departments. New Orleans already worked under the IBC at the time of Katrina, Dhume said. But it was critical to expand the codes statewide. And when they did, building officials needed to be certified, he added, and there were only five or six who were in the entire state at that time. So Dhume did a lot of training, as well, with FEMA picking up the tab. That still goes on today, and they still need more people to train. What has helped, he said, is that training has expanded, with building officials getting multiple certifications, so they can branch out into plumbing, mechanical and electrical. "They are now better prepared to handle emergencies and to help prevent them," Dhume said. "But people had to learn the hard way."

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