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Research and Resources for Flood Recovery

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Research and Resources for Flood Recovery
Authors: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development    

Posted Date: July 17, 2008



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Midwest flooding information is available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at http://www.fema.gov/hazard/midwestfloods.shtm.

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) offers this list of relevant resources, reports, guides, and ordinances to aid in the Midwest flooding recovery process.

Many of the reports in this kit are available in print by calling (Phone) the HUD USER Clearinghouse at 1-800-245-2691, option 1. As always, all reports are available as free downloads. For a limited time, HUD USER will provide print-based publications (normally $5 each) free of charge to those located in the recent flood-affected areas.

Publications, Reports, and Technical Guides to Assist in Flood Recovery and Rebuilding

The following reports, a collection from HUD USER and the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), provide resources, information, and construction strategies for those involved in the recovery process.

Phone Creating a Healthy Home: A Field Guide for Clean-up of Flooded Homes (2008)
This guide is meant for do-it-yourselfers and contractors who need to clean up mold in flooded homes before starting to rebuild or renovate. This booklet tells how to clean up after flooding, but does not describe how to rebuild.

Recommendations to Help You Recover From a Flood (2007)
Based on findings from Oak Ridge National Laboratory's field tests of flood-damage-resistant housing materials, PATH compiled this list of recommendations to help the flood recovery process.

Speed the Home Rebuilding Process (2007)
This guide presents information for site builders and land developers on how to incorporate HUD-Code manufactured housing into their business operations.

Phone Moisture-Resistant Homes (2006)
This report advances the goal of designing, building, and maintaining houses in order to effectively manage moisture penetration. It addresses many common moisture-related problems that are well known to builders, homeowners, and insurers.

Building Moisture and Durability (2004)
This project develops recommendations for future research on moisture problems in housing and follows a review and analysis of the literature concerning problems created by bulk water and excessive water vapor in housing.

Phone Eliminating Barriers to the Use of HUD-Code Housing in Attached Construction (2003)
Provides guidance to home manufacturers, builder/developers, and traditional site builders interested in reducing building costs while integrating manufactured housing into single-family attached construction.

Phone Smart Codes in Your Community: A Guide to Building Rehabilitation Codes (2001)
Provides a broad overview of the general regulatory environment governing the use and reuse of existing buildings. It also provides examples of state and local efforts to reduce regulatory complexity.

Phone Barriers to Rehabilitation of Affordable Housing: Volume 1 - Findings and Analysis, Volume 2 - Case Studies (2001)
These two publications examine some of the more significant barriers to urban rehabilitation. The authors present a series of case studies that address problems with acquiring properties, estimating costs, obtaining insurance and financing, and working with land-use and building code regulations.

Phone Home Builders' Guide to Manufactured Housing (2000)
This guide presents information for site builders and land developers on how to incorporate HUD-Code manufactured housing into their business operations.

Phone HUD Rehab Guide: Volumes One through Nine (1997 – 2000)
This series provides the design and construction industry with information on building technologies, materials, components, and techniques specific to the rehabilitation process. Each volume covers a distinct element of housing rehab – foundations; exterior walls; roofs; windows and doors; partitions, ceiling, floors, and stairs; kitchens and baths; electrical/electronics; HVAC/plumbing; and site work.

Ordinances and Regulations for Rebuilding

The regulations below provide sample ordinances and codes that may be useful during the recovery process. These regulations, drawn from local governments, cover rehabilitation, reconstruction, and manufactured/modular housing.

The examples are just a few of the strategies assembled by HUD’s Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse (RBC), a resource to collect and disseminate state and local regulations that promote affordable housing. To find out more, visit our website at www.regbarriers.org.

California Property Tax: An Overview (2002)
The state allows any modifications to existing housing for accessibility purposes to be excluded from reassessments. In addition, housing damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster can be given a lower value until reconstruction. Upon completion of construction, the unit will not be considered new construction if it’s substantially equivalent to the structure prior to the damage or destruction.

Baltimore County Zoning Regulations (2006)
Section 305 allows owners of damaged or destroyed dwellings that do not comply with current height or area requirements to be restored. The area or height deficiencies cannot be increased beyond what existed prior to the damage, and other limitations apply.

Land Development Code County of Manatee, Florida (2006)
Manatee's impact fees are exempted for certain reconstruction and replacement projects and allows rebuilding of nonconforming uses provided it starts within one year.

Arkansas' Sample Affordable Housing District Regulations (2003)
This guide provides information for communities in Arkansas attempting to meet state requirements that cities permit manufactured housing in at least one residential zoning district on individually owned lots.

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