FEMA TO FUND RE-ROOFING OF THE AUDUBON AQUARIUM OF THE AMERICAS

The following excerpt is from the Federal Emergency Management Agency website:

December 21, 2011
“NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced recently nearly $2.1 million in funding to replace the existing roof at Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, which continues to suffer interior water leaks stemming from Hurricane Katrina’s initial impact.
FEMA’s grant was provided to the Audubon Commission, the overseers of the Audubon Aquarium, who recently provided new damage findings to the federal agency. The new findings indicated that prior roof repairs did not solve all the Katrina-related roof problems, as some existing problems were unforeseen until now.

“The new data submitted showed additional Katrina-water infiltration that was not originally known,” said FEMA’s Louisiana Recovery Office Deputy Director of Programs Andre Cadogan. “Because we now have a more accurate feel for eligible damages, we’ve realigned this project’s scope of work to account for these damages and support the aquarium’s roof replacement.”

Previously, FEMA provided funding for repair work to approximately 6,280 square feet of the aquarium’s roofing surface, yet the facility’s interior leaks have continued since those repairs were finished. In an attempt to determine the cause and source of the interior leaks, the Audubon Commission had a thermo-scan performed on the entire aquarium’s roof surface.

The damage assessment showed that a large portion of the roof’s insulation had been saturated with water prior to the actual roof repairs. Once the repairs were made, the new roof surface acted as a moisture seal, not allowing the saturated water vapors to escape, resulting in leaks throughout the facility.
“FEMA has devoted a lot of time and effort toward a resolution of this situation and we appreciate that,” said Audubon Nature Institute President and CEO Ron Forman. “We’re especially grateful for FEMA’s willingness to re-evaluate the new information as it came in.”
When FEMA approves projects through its supplemental Public Assistance grant, the funds are made available to the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness, who disburses them to the applicant for eligible work completed.

The Public Assistance program works with state and local officials to fund recovery measures and the rebuilding of government and certain private nonprofit organizations’ buildings, as well as roads, bridges and water and sewer plants. In order for the process to be successful, federal, state and local partners coordinate to draw up project plans, fund these projects and oversee their completion.
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.”