Preservation Professionals Help Survey Historic Buildings Affected by Katrina

The storm surge and high winds caused by Hurricane Katrina and associated tornadoes damaged thousands of historic structures along the Gulf Coast.  In rapid response, preservation professionals throughout the country stepped up to help evaluate the damage in an effort to save as many structures as possible, despite minimal resources and difficult working conditions.  Here we review the incredible work of three teams that have  traveled to the Coast in an effort to help.

Mississippi Heritage Trust/Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) Team
This volunteer team, organized by Patrick Sparks, P.E. was the first outside team of preservation professionals to visit the Gulf Coast, spending the week of 19-24 September in the disaster zones along the Mississippi coast. The group found that the level of devastation in the Gulf Coast areas was much more severe than what was reported in the news, which was focused primarily on the flooding of New Orleans.  The 25-35' storm surge directly affected buildings along the 100 miles of coastline, where structures were also affected by the 11 confirmed tornados associated with the storm.

Panorama of Pearl Street in Biloxi, Mississippi

The goals of the team were to "structurally evaluate critically damaged publicly-owned landmarks, to develop an approach for future assessments of the remaining historic buildings, to make contact with local officials, and to make recommendations regarding how to move forward with stabilization."

The primary recommendation of the group was to immediately establish a Heritage Recovery Assistance Center that would be set up to provide both technical assistance and funding to historic property owners.  Also, the need to immediately stabilize those structures that could be saved was identified as a major priority along with the development of a centralized GIS database to aid in the organization of the various historic assessment efforts.

One major issue that was identified was the lack of funding for stabilization efforts of privately-owned historic structures.  The team estimated that approximately $8.5 million would be required in order to temporarily stabilize the affected buildings in Mississippi that aren't eligible for FEMA money, which is limited to public-owned buildings.  If you would like to help, please donate to the Mississippi Heritage Trust.

1795 Old Brick House, Biloxi, Mississippi	1920's House in Biloxi

APTI Hurricane Katrina Volunteer Teams
Two groups organized by APTI have visited affected areas of Hurricane Katrina. The first group, comprised of six historic building professionals, traveled to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi during the week of October 9th - 16th.  The primary goal of the group was three-fold: to meet with homeowners of historic properties who desired a structural evaluation of their properties, to evaluate the historic buildings along Beach Boulevard in Bay St. Louis and finally, to structurally assess those historic properties that local officials had deemed unsafe for occupancy.  Each evaluated property was inspected and the results documented in both hard copy and digital form which will aid future teams in the evaluation effort.  

The success of the first APTI effort led to another team traveling to Biloxi/Gulfport, Mississippi during the week of 29 November - 6 December. The primary goal of this second trip was to help MDAH to evaluate more than 70 heavily damaged early 20th century homes in Gulfport.  Additionally, the team was asked to help evaluate the Sullivan/Wright Cottages in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  These structures, currently for sale, were heavily damaged during the storm and the team was involved in the attempt to reclaim important pieces from the interior washed away in the storm.  The group of professionals from APTI also met with a group of over 25 students and faculty from Savannah College of Art and Design, that was there working on a variety of projects in the area.

This remarkable effort by professionals involved with APTI was led by Brian Robinson, the current Vice President of APTI.  He had this to say regarding these aid trips:

It is difficult to communicate the magnitude of the damage in Mississippi. Our volunteer efforts assist directly with the recovery of damaged heritage properties as well as in lifting the spirits of the local preservationists. The majority I have met are terribly depressed by the magnitude of their losses and the scope of the task of recovery before them. They need to be reassured that we have not forgotten them in their hour of need.

Volunteers with preservation experience are needed for the third trip, planned for the week of 23 - 30 January 2006.  For more information, click here.

For the complete reports from the first and second volunteer trips, please see the APTI website. 

World Monuments Fund Team
This team, led by Stephen Kelley, AIA, SE, and representing the World Monuments Fund in conjunction with the Preservation Trades Network and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, maintained a New Orleans focus and visited the area from 24 - 27 September.  

Stephen's report highlights the fact that the storm surge in New Orleans primarily affected the levees, whose breach caused extensive water damage to thousands of buildings.  Significant wind damage was noted primarily in structures greater than 4 stories with the shorter buildings suffering primarily from water damage. Most of the residential buildings in and around New Orleans are one- and two-story wood braced frame buildings. Interestingly, much of the damage to  two-story structures was caused by a failed original first story weakened by termite damage.  In many cases, the newer, largely in-tact second stories were found to be teetering on the failed first story structure.  

The report also mentions that the damage to New Orleans and surrounding areas does seem to be less than that reported in the press.

For the full WMF report, click here.  For a list of all the links provided in this story, see the links area on the VA resources page.

- Kelly Streeter, Photos by Patrick Sparks

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