Fred Banks, longtime director of the Denham Springs Section 8 program, looks through the damages at the offices of the facility in this July 2017 photo. HUD approved rent vouchers for residents of the complex, which will undergo a rebuild.
Denham Springs Section 8 Program employee Elmo Pania shows the watermark on a unit at the Housing Development, which was destoryed in the Great Flood of 2017. Some areas took in as much as 7 feet of water, according to Director Fred Banks.
A prayer for serenity is one of the only relics remaining in one of the units in the Denham Springs Housing Development following the August flood.
Disbelief over flood damage has not waned for Denham Springs Section 8 Director Fred Banks, who now faces the task of helping to oversee the rebuilding of the housing development. The current complex will be razed within three months, he said.
DENHAM SPRINGS –Disbelief etched the face of Fred Banks as he strolled through a complex of abandoned brick buildings which were full of life one year earlier.
One year has not eased the pain he has felt since the Great Flood of 2016 ravaged the Denham Springs Housing Development, but he now faces another obstacle.
The spread of black mold in units throughout the complex has prompted FEMA to order demolition of the housing development, which was built in 1973. The plans to raze the building not only pose a long, arduous workload for Banks and the city – it’s also tough pill to swallow emotionally.
“Many of us were poor as kids, but none of us ever went through something like this,” Banks said in a voice barely above a whisper.
Parts of the complex took in as much as seven feet of water during the weekend of Aug. 14.
The water trapped inside the solid brick walls, which made it impossible to stop it from spreading through the buildings.
“The bottom line is that there was too much black mold,” Banks said. “But if they would’ve broken the roof to remove the mold, the walls wouldn’t be able to support the roof thereafter.”
Water had also seeped through the walls, although it was not detected until it underwent an inspection by engineers.
Alvin Fairburn & Associates worked on the inspection, while FEMA brought in structural engineers from Florida.
“Now we’re looking toward demolition,” Banks said. “We’re still in the grant application process for matching funds.”
A rebuilding of the housing development will mark the next step on the process.
The new units will be elevated four feet, in accordance to FEMA mandates.
Early estimates show a cost of $19 million for the rebuild, which will take between 18 months and two years, Banks said.
It’s a tall order for Banks, who had retired just over a year ago when he was hospitalized from a hematoma. Now he’s back at work.
What happens to the residents of the development during that period poses the biggest obstacle.
Banks said he is working with FEMA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to move the residents out of hotels and apartments.
A total of 332 occupants were housed at the DS Housing Development and Ashley Place. Forty-six units were damaged at Ashley Place, but approximately 25 are back in service, he said.
Insurance covered the damages at Ashley Place, Banks said.
Amid the large number of displaced residents and the impending demolition, he still sees a silver lining.
“We’re blessed that nobody drowned in this flood,” Banks said. “I hate to see good people homeless, but I think they’ll be better off once we rebuild.”
“You can replace all the material items, but you can’t replace human life,” said employee Elmo Pania, who walked with Banks through the development.
Original tenants will receive top priority once the application process once the rebuild begins, Banks said. He intends to keep the return process as simple as possible for the displaced residents.
“We don’t want any red tape, so we’re going to do just what we have to do to get them back here,” he said. “But at the same time, housing is very high in demand right now.”
The high demand worries Banks, who said the higher rent poses a major obstacle for much of the complex’s population – 45 percent of whom are elderly or disabled.
One displaced resident whose income consists solely of a $700 per month Social Security check could not afford an apartment because rent was $800 per month, he said.
“These aren’t people who can pick up and get a job,” Banks said. “This flood affected all generations, but the elderly simply aren’t able to go to work – and even if they were, it’s hard to find a job right anywhere right now.”
Banks hopes many of the original tenants will return. They comprised a complex which rarely had police calls and was mostly peaceful.
He had incentive.
Skepticism and resistance were rampant in 1969 when the plans for a Section 8 development was first proposed.
“Some people opposed putting it here because they feared it would become a slum,” Banks said. “That motivated me not to let it become that way.”
The development remained a peaceful community through the years.
“We had a couple of them here for a long time who would check on one another every morning,” he said. “We had the best tenants in the world, a place where people got along and looked out for each other.
“I never had to lock my car here,” Banks said.
In the same way he worked to keep the area quiet and peaceful, Banks remains confident better days lie ahead for the development.
“This too shall pass,” he said. “God is in control, and He’ll make a way.”
