Denham Springs officials say about 45 percent of flooded structures in their city evaluated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been deemed substantially damaged.
The Advocate reports Rick Foster of the Denham Spring Building Department told the city council Monday FEMA inspectors evaluated 2,729 residential and commercial structures and found 1,222 had sustained damage estimated to cost 50 percent or more of the structure's value to repair.
Foster said he asked for the FEMA inspection teams to come in because there were too many flooded structures for his four-person department to assess.
Foster said the city had received 698 permit applications, issued 453 permits and found 29 structures to be substantially damaged as of Monday. He says another 76 structures are awaiting inspection
