Substantial Damage – Beware

    The headline of an article Wednesday morning in a Baton Rouge paper read: "Central council makes it official: Substantially damaged buildings don't need to be elevated a foot above base flood level." While the headline is technically true, it could easily lead people to think that the City's requirement to raise those homes was removed by the City Council, and it was not.
    Homes that are determined by the City of Central to be substantially damaged DO have to be elevated if they are in Flood Zones A or AE, AND are currently below Base Flood Elevation, AND are going to be repaired… but only TO base flood elevation, not A FOOT ABOVE.
    The City previously required the additional one foot ABOVE base flood elevation, but has now removed that requirement, meaning those homes still must be raised TO base flood elevation in order to be repaired.  A home that will require repairs of 50% or more of its pre-flood value is defined as "substantially damaged." The City of Central's finding that a home is substantially damaged can be appealed using contractor estimates and home appraisals.