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When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the coastal city of New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005, they left trail of destruction in their wake. In total, 80 percent of the city was flooded by the waters that breached the levees intended to protect the city. The epic flooding created an equally monumental amount of debris.

“After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, we were faced with over 55 million cubic yards of debris,” says Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, who managed the massive debris removal effort in New Orleans. “Enough to fill the Louisiana Superdome 40 times over.”

According to Brown, the two most crucial components to successful debris removal are (1) having an effective debris removal plan in place and (2) having a clear grasp of the FEMA reimbursement process.

Lesson 1: Include Debris Management in Disaster Planning
After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, local officials in New Orleans were forced to quickly create a debris management plan. “We had no response template and no historic guide to respond to a disaster this widespread and intense,” says Brown. “We went to work, assessed the damage, devised a response plan and implemented it.”

Fortunately, the decisions LDEQ made and actions it took during the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have proven sound in the 10 years since the disaster. “But not everyone has been so fortunate,” says Brown. “Preplanning is a must.”

Initial Response Phase. Debris removal plays a critical role in the response effort during the initial days following a disaster. “This is called the 72-hour push, when local municipalities clear the highways for any emergency vehicle or any kind of emergency response,” explains Brown. Municipalities with a plan for removing debris from main thoroughfares in a disaster will manage this process more swiftly and effectively.

Managing Collected Debris. Disaster plans should also outline how to hold and dispose of collected debris. Having a map of FEMA-approved debris management sites can help save time and hassle.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, collected debris was staged at West End Boulevard in the median area (referred to locally in New Orleans as “neutral ground”), then moved to debris management sites and await its eventual disposal.

Lesson 2: Understand the FEMA Reimbursement Process
Money does not automatically begin flowing into an area to help with the recovery effort once the president makes a disaster declaration. The FEMA disaster recovery assistance process is a complicated, paperwork-intensive process to navigate and debris management funding is no exception.

Debris removal activities can be eligible as emergency work under Category A of FEMA’s Public Assistance program. To be eligible, activities must be required as a result of the disaster, be located within the disaster area, and be in the public interest. See FEMA’s Public Assistance Debris Management Guide for additional details.

Once work is determined as eligible, the debris removal process must be carefully managed.