20 January 2006
Katrina Louisiana Shapefiles
St. Charles Parish

The following text describes the shapefiles created for post-Katrina inundation and flood recovery mapping.  

For more information on Katrina recovery mapping in Louisiana, please see:
URL:  www.fema.gov/hazards/floods/recoverydata/katrina_la_index.shtm


File and descriptions

katrina_la_sc_sil.shp
Polygon coverage 
Spatial extent:  St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
Source:  Dewberry

Attributes:
None

Description:  The Katrina surge inundation limit polygon shapefile represents the extent of land inundation by 
coastal storm surge as calculated by spatial analysis of collected high water marks. 


katrina_la_sc_abfez.shp
Polygon coverage
Spatial extent:  St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
Source:  Dewberry

Attributes:
ABFE_Zone
This field gives the Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE) calculated for the designated area.  

Description:  ABFE zones for St. Charles Parish are sourced from flood zones digitized from the effective Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for the parish.  Elevations are relative to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929.  ABFE elevations were calculated by adding freeboard to the Base Flood Elevations (BFEs) contained in the effective FIRM data.  As specified by FEMA, 1 foot of freeboard was addded to all areas in St. Charles Parish.  For more specific guidance on ABFE development in this parish, see http://www.fema.gov/hazards/floods/recoverydata/pdf/stcharles_parish11-30-05nh.pdf.