Reply #3: Not an engineer, but I suspect [View All]

That the concrete/rebar buildings and steel girder buildings will be stripped down on the inside and rebuilt. Wood-framed houses probably won't fare so well after being weeks in water. I have known families here in the Ohio Valley who were flooded out and rebuilt with the original frame but the water came and receded within a couple of days. I had mad water damage last year when the remnants of Ivan hit and we had to rip out all the old plaster, rewire some, and put up new drywall. It's a hella lot of work. I don't ever want to do it again.

edited to add:

My Mum's house sustained major damage as well. The cinder-block foundation shifted during the rainstorms. We had to completely gut the basement/recreation area, hired a contractor to dig out and physically pull the foundation back into place and secure it with huge metal rods and plates in the ground. Then they added a rubber membrane to the outside of the foundation, install French drains around the property, and move all the dirt back. Total cost for that was $11,000, not including the cost of reframing, drywall, carpeting, etc. in the rec room. So you get an idea what these folks in N.O. are up against. It's going to cost an enormous amount of money.