Flood Prevention and Protection

The purpose of Flood Prevention and Protection is to promote the public health, safety and general welfare and to minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed to protect human life and health, minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects, minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public, minimize prolonged business interruptions, minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water and sewer mains, gas mains, electric lines, telephone lines, streets and bridges located in areas of special flood hazard. help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the sound use and development of areas of special flood hazard so as to minimize future flood blight areas, ensure that potential buyers are notified that property is in an area of special flood hazard, and ensure that those who occupy the areas of special flood hazard assume responsibility for their actions.

Flood Hazard Awareness Brochure

The City of Shreveport voluntarily participates in the National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) which recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements.

Main Objectives
• Promote awareness of floodplain management issues
• Administer and enforce the Floodplain Ordinances for the City of Shreveport
• Address storm-water and drainage issues
• Seek solutions to existing flood problems
• Provide assistance where possible to inquiries relating to flood control and drainage issues

Flood Protection Assistance

The Department of Engineering will translate the FEMA-designated flood maps to determine the projected flood elevations for your property and will assist by providing site specific flood related data such as floor elevation, historical flooding data for specific areas, or other information to help you understand the risk of flooding for specific neighborhoods.  If you require help identifying the placement of your property in relation to flood zones you may visit our office in the Government Plaza building at 505 Travis Street, Suite 300, Shreveport, Louisiana or call 673-6000.  You may also access the online map search provided by FEMA at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. The FEMA site allows a citizen to do a flood zone search by property address.  If your property is flood prone, the City of Shreveport encourages you to protect your home or business from damage before the storm arrives.

Flood Prevention and Protection

Chapter 34 of the Shreveport, Louisiana Code of Ordinances discusses flood prevention and protection as well as provisions for flood hazard reduction.  A development permit shall be obtained before construction or development begins within any area of special flood hazard. 

Permit Application for FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area
 
Mitigation
Mitigation generally is defined as actions taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to life and property from hazards. Mitigation actions are designed to reduce the need for emergency response, not to improve the ability to respond.

Mitigation Planning involves setting out "problems" as they have been defined and finding the "solutions" for what the future can look like. They are plan documents of how you arrived at the solutions, and how you're going to go about putting them into action. In the end, the plan identifies, prioritizes, and assigns mitigation actions for implementation.

The City of Shreveport has adopted a multi-hazard mitigation plan know as the Caddo Parish Hazard Mitigation Plan 2016.

Other Resources

Disaster Preparedness

Weather