HOUSTON—Faced with a fast-approaching deadline to create a strategy for mitigating damages from Hurricane Katrina and for protecting its campuses from future flooding, Tulane University turned to the Houston office of PageSoutherlandPage for assistance.

Hurricane Katrina severely damaged Tulane's 120-building Uptown Campus, as well as the four buildings on its Downtown Campus in New Orleans. Tulane University officials recently asked PageSoutherlandPage and its subcontractor, Verges Rome of New Orleans, to help assess the 124 buildings and to develop a scope of work statement and budget estimate to secure FEMA 404 and 406 claims agreements that will fund repairs and renovation. The strategic plan will also address dry flood proofing, exterior hardening, infrastructure mitigation, and building-by-building rough order of magnitude cost estimates.

Tulane University contacted PageSoutherlandPage's Business Continuity / Mission Critical Facilities Group because the team has extensive experience assisting institutions with disaster recovery and preparedness.

During Tropical Storm Allison in June 2001, a storm cell sitting over Houston dropped more than 22 inches of rain in a 2.5-hour period, resulting in a 500-year rainfall which flooded Baylor College of Medicine. A disaster recovery team was assembled on site and worked around the clock to bring the facility back on line as quickly as possible. PageSoutherlandPage marshaled resources to pump out water from the basements; strategize emergency recovery to campus systems; assess magnitude of damage; document the thorough physical audits of equipment, material and space; estimate the cost of the loss and the cost to replace; help prepare reimbursement claims and negotiate with FEMA and insurance carriers for facility recovery. As a result, Baylor received $275 million, which was the largest FEMA settlement in the Texas Medical Center.

As a result of the experience at Baylor, the nearby M. D. Anderson Cancer Center asked the same team to design flood protection for its $2.5 billion campus. PageSoutherlandPage developed a 2,558-linear-foot flood wall barrier program to protect the basement and ground floor of the hospital complex in a manner that is functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Currently, the PageSoutherlandPage team is also working in New Orleans with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) on its Tulane University Hospital and Tulane-DePaul Behavioral Health Center campuses. Abbreviated Damage Assessment Reports published jointly by PageSoutherlandPage and Morton Verges (now Verges Rome) Architects, defined scopes of work for the restoration and reconstruction of the facilities. The reports included assessment of damages resulting from Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent loss of power and utilities, which forced total evacuation of the facilities.

The report on the DePaul campus summarized the major findings of a general, visual assessment of the condition of the twelve buildings comprising the 13-acre campus, documenting in particular, damage apparently caused by, or associated with, the catastrophic weather event. The report included a comprehensive assessment of damage resultant from the storm, flood, and subsequent evacuation and mitigation activities. Included within the published document was an investigation addressing architectural, mechanical, and electrical systems and components, covering approximately 201,000 square feet of interior space in addition to a detailed evaluation of the 13-acre site and building exteriors.

Included in the published document for Tulane University Hospital was an investigation addressing architectural, mechanical, and electrical systems and components, covering approximately 483,000 sf of interior space. PageSoutherlandPage acted as liaison between HCA, the Tulane University System, Morton Verges Architects and other local engineers and contractors affiliated with the overall effort.

The team is currently re-designing the first floor of the hospital—approximately 90,000 sf of space—to include new food service preparation areas, new public and faculty dining areas, a new outpatient service department encompassing occupational therapy, cardiology and cardio-rehab provisions, re-designed central sterile and pharmacy departments, morgue and central supply components, as well as newly appointed public spaces.

In addition to these design enhancements, PageSoutherlandPage is providing design/engineering services for complete dry flood-proofing of the existing Central Plant area. This dry flood-proofing effort will encompass approximately 10,000 sf of interior space and will serve as one of the first flood-proofing efforts within an existing facility in the City of New Orleans.

The PageSoutherlandPage Business Continuity / Mission Critical Facilities Group, led by Dennis K. Peck, AIA, senior vice president, provides specialty consulting services to help our clients create strategies and action plans focused on keeping the enterprise alive when disaster strikes. In water-specific cases such as these, the team evaluates risks, identifies opportunities, develops cost-effective strategies to manage storm water run-off and works with the design team to ensure critical systems are protected from potential flood waters and can maintain viability of the institution as long as possible. Sophisticated analysis and design tools are used to model anticipated drainage conditions in a range of environments that could exist. When managed properly, water is one of the most precious resources, enriching the value of property and the quality of life. Uncontrolled run-off and flooding can cause countless billions of dollars of loss and inconvenience each year.

For a copy of Keys to Success: Ten Keys to Successful Business Continuity, please go to the following URL: http://www.pspaec.com/pdf/Keys_continuity.pdf.

Founded in 1898, PageSoutherlandPage provides architecture, interiors, consulting and engineering services throughout the U.S. and around the world. The firm specializes in the design of facilities to support science and technology development and manufacturing, healthcare, and education, and is recognized for its corporate, public, government and urban housing design capabilities. PageSoutherlandPage also has offices in Austin, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and London. More information can be found on our Web site, www.pspaec.com.