SUNO gets $5.4 million from FEMA to repair Katrina damage

By John Pope, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 

on November 28, 2012 at 5:15 PM, updated November 28, 2012 at 5:20 PM

 Southern University at New Orleans has received $5.4 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to repair damage that Hurricane Katrina inflicted on two buildings. The money will be routed through the state Office of Facility Planning and Control because it is responsible for all state-owned property.
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In September 2006, water-damaged books still sat in piles in the SUNO library.Times-Picayune archive

SUNO will receive $3.1 million to repair its University Center and $2.3 million for its Administration Building. Work on the University Center will include flood-proofing measures, such as a design for a 4-foot-high floodwall to protect it, and it will pay for elevating mechanical and electrical equipment to prevent flood-related damage.

Similar work will be done on the Administration Building. Among the flood-proofing measures there will be pumps and a 5-foot-high floodwall with gates that will operate automatically.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., announced the grants. “I commend SUNO for working hard to rebuild stronger in the face of disaster, and for remaining an important presence in the New Orleans community,” she said in a statement.

The campus was pounded by the storm’s wind and rain, and inundated with floodwater that stood for weeks. In the seven years since Katrina, SUNO has received upwards of $117 million from FEMA to help it rebuild.