Bossier Parish, LA Hurricane Preparedness: Flood Elevation (2026)

Chapter 54's general flood hazard reduction standards at § 54-91 apply inside every area of special flood hazard, covering anchoring, flood-resistant materials, and protected mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC equipment (§ 54-91(1) through (7)). Subsection (8) then goes further and applies regardless of mapping: it states that as an exception to the rest of § 54-91, all new residential and commercial construction, whether located within a special flood hazard area or not, must have the lowest floor, including any basement, elevated to one foot or more above the base flood elevation, or one foot above the adjacent roadway crown elevation, whichever elevation is higher.

That means a lot outside the FEMA-mapped special flood hazard area in unincorporated Bossier Parish is not automatically excused from a freeboard requirement; the roadway-crown alternative gives builders a usable benchmark even where no base flood elevation has been formally established for the parcel. The floodplain administrator, the Bossier Parish Administrator/Engineer under § 54-71, reviews permit applications under § 54-73 to confirm the proposed building site, including any manufactured home placement, is reasonably safe from flooding before work begins, whether or not the parcel falls inside a mapped hazard area.

This general standard works alongside the more detailed elevation requirements at § 54-92 for structures that do sit inside a mapped special flood hazard area.