Hurricane Ida recovery process moving forward despite challenges

Ten months ago Hurricane Ida made landfall at Port Fourchon, LA, about 18 miles southwest of Grand Isle and about 60 miles south of New Orleans, wreaking havoc as it moved north through southeast Louisiana. Its catastrophic 150 plus mile-an-hour winds continued to lash the State of Louisiana as a Category 4 storm for about six hours after it made landfall, damaging several churches, Catholic schools and other facilities in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, is a day that will not soon be forgotten by anyone in south Louisiana.

Of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux’s 39 churches, nine received major damage, 15 received moderate damage, and 15 received little to no significant damage. Of the 11 Catholic schools in the diocese, six received major damage; one received moderate damage, and four received little to no significant damage. In addition to the churches and schools, many other church parish facilities sustained anywhere from major to moderate damage including roof damage, shingle loss, water damage, collapsed walls, siding damage, broken mausoleums and tombstones; broken windows, and downed trees and fences.

The recovery process has been a frustratingly slow one for many, including the leadership team in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. William (Bill) Barbera, diocesan chief operating and financial officer, explains that there is a process that must adhered to in this situation. “FEMA has specific protocols and methodologies that, if followed, we should be able to navigate the maze of paperwork. The key to our success in working with FEMA is doing things properly and not trying to circumvent the system and creating doubt in our ability or desire to play by the rules. Quite simply, we need FEMA to be able to fund the rebuild and they make the rules!”

Following is a timeline of the actions taken by “diocesan leadership” beginning immediately after Hurricane Ida’s landfall in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux on Aug. 29, 2021. With regard to disaster recovery, the term “diocesan leadership” refers to the bishop/diocesan administrator, diocesan chief operating and financial officer; diocesan Office of Building & Construction staff, and members of the diocesan Recovery Task Force that made up of longstanding church parish leaders in various areas of the diocese.

Timeline:
● Aug. 30, 2021 – Diocesan leadership visits each location.

● Early September 2021 – D.A. Lamont Public Adjusters is hired and begins site visits. (D.A. Lamont assisted with adjusting the diocese’s insurance claim immediately following the storm and is now functioning as the diocese’s FEMA grant manager).

● Early September 2021 – Catholic Mutual Group (CMG) begins initial site visits (CMG is the insurance carrier who provides the diocese’s property insurance policy).

● Mid September 2021 – CMG contracts Gulf Coast Claims Services (GCCS) to adjust the claim (GCCS is the firm that CMG contracts to handle their CAT-level claims-adjusting).

● Late September 2021 – Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) claim is filed for the diocese (FEMA is the Federal Government’s body for distributing disaster aid).

● September—November 2021 – Damage is assessed and documented in detail.


● December 2021 – Eight local architects are engaged to manage the rebuild.

● January 2022 – Architects are assigned to locations.

● February 2022 – Architects begin site visits; D.A. Lamont reports are being completed.

● March 2022 – CMG begins approving D.A. Lamont reports.

● April 2022 – Draft estimates on all locations are received.

● May 2022 – Owner/architect agreements are signed; priority list of projects is approved.

● June 2022 – Architects begin the Phase 2 - Design.



The Rebuild Process for Each Building includes five phases:

Phase 1 – Assessment

Various parties including the diocesan Office of Building & Construction staff, D.A. Lamont, CMG, and GCCS have come together to assess the total damage across the entire diocese. This has included:

● Detailed site evaluations

● Expert reports (structural engineers, roofing experts, architects, etc.)

● Regulatory bodies (civil parishes, floodplain managers, fire marshal, etc.)

● Damage estimates of the cost to rebuild

Phase 2 – Design

● As damage estimates are completed, architects are being given their priority lists to ensure that urgent work is completed first (church roofs, for example). Architects then begin their process to build job orders and prepare to bid out the work.

Phase 3 – Approval
Because resources are limited, particularly cash flow, labor and materials, all projects must be approved by several parties before moving to bidding out the work:

● Individual locations (church parishes, schools, ministries)

● Diocesan leadership

● FEMA (for projects that exceed certain amounts and may be eligible for reimbursement)

Phase 4 – Bid
● Once all parties agree on how to proceed, the jobs are then bid out. Some will need to go through a public bid process due to the size to satisfy FEMA requirements. All contractors will need to adhere to diocesan policies for licensing and insurance.

Phase 5 – Construction

● Once a bid is selected and approved, the actual construction work will begin. This will vary based on each individual building, as each will have different needs.

Barbera explains that because this is a CAT (catastrophic) level event that is beyond the scope of a normal commercial property insurance policy, the diocese will benefit from working with FEMA. Even though the funds from CMG are coming in and will exhaust the policy limit, there is a significant difference to be made up. Under FEMA’s program guidelines, certain nonprofits, including houses of worship, are eligible for disaster relief benefits to go toward repairing buildings. Utilizing these two sources of funding will allow the diocese to recoup the majority of the loss without pushing any additional burden on to individual church parishes or their congregations.

According to Barbera, the final stages of Phase 1 – Assessment were being completed as of May 2022. “The architectural firms that we have contracted with are currently beginning the Phase 2 – Design for a ‘first wave’ of projects according to their work capacity. These projects are being ranked in priority according to building type and type of project. Churches and schools are highest priority buildings, with roof projects being the highest priority project,” clarifies Barbera.

The diocese is moving into Phase 2 – Design with approximately 30 projects that the architect partners are currently working on. “We will continue to initiate more projects as the Design Phase for the current projects are brought to certain levels of completion. From there, various projects will be reviewed and approved to bid, then put out for bid, then executed once a bid is chosen. This process will be somewhat of a ‘revolving door’ for the next few years until all of our buildings have been repaired,” says Barbera.

“It has been difficult to manage expectations. Our mindset has had to shift into a thinking of years of rebuilding, not months. Each building and location is unique and takes on a process of recovery that is very different than that of rebuilding a personal residence,” adds Barbera. “We will be working well into three years from Hurricane Ida’s landfall.”