ORLANDO, Fla. – Officials from the City of St. Augustine and the University of Florida’s Historic Preservation program presented their ideas for preserving historic districts like the Oldest City that are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters during the 2018 National Hurricane Conference.
Landmark buildings and structures, historic districts, and archeological sites reflect a community’s distinct heritage and are a source of pride for many residents. Historical, cultural, and architectural resources significantly contribute to a community’s character, quality of life, and economic base.
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Coastal communities, such as St. Augustine, throughout the country contain an abundance of historic resources that are vulnerable to damage from hurricane winds and flooding.
In fact, St. Augustine has a unique heritage documented in diversity of cultural resources which include dozens of archeological sites; 3,563 recorded structures on the state inventory; and seven national register historic districts.
Based on previous damage assessments nationwide, it appears that a lack of preparedness has led to increased damage and in many cases inadvertent losses. The lack of sufficient damage assessment, proper debris management, improper and inappropriate repairs along with limited input from knowledgeable preservation professionals all contribute to the problem.
Flooding as a result a tropical event remains the greatest hazard for the St. Augustine historic. NOAA estimates a total inundation during Hurricane Matthew between 5-7 ft. and Hurricane Irma 3-5 ft.
Flood resistance may perhaps be one way to combat this hazard. It can be done by reducing the amount of water entering property by assess the flood’s regularity, duration, speed, cause and source. And on the other side resistance, they are taking into consideration what could be done to reduce the amount of damage caused by the water by building temporary and permanent barriers and elevating and modifying historic structures.
Looking into the future the city and the university are working together to recommended pre-disaster mitigation and post-disaster recovery related actions and strategies when dealing with historic structures and neighborhoods.
Their goals include:
Participate in Diaster Mitigation Planning
- Engage in hazard mitigation process
- Document at risk historic and cultural resources
- Prepare design guidelines for flood mitigation measure
- Provide protection for civic landmarks
Develop Historic Preservation Disaster Response
- Create an expedited review process for disaster response
- Identity partners to assist with post-flood survey and review
- Establish a debris management plan
- Integrate a plan for historic preservation into local response
- Disseminate information to property owner
If your property may by affecting by these efforts or if you are interested in share your ideas or learning more information, please visit the Historic Preservation at University of Florida website.