LIVINGSTON - In its efforts to stay in compliance with FEMA guidelines, and keep lower insurance rates for property owners, Livingston Parish said it has identified more than 1,200 buildings with substantial damage from the historic 2016 flood.

Parish President Layton Ricks' office said Thursday that it had completed inspecting nearly 4,000 structures around the parish. Officials said 1,242 had been designated as "substantially damaged" as a result of the 2016 flood. 

The statement from Ricks' office said parish was ordered to assess properties' Base Flood Elevations and First Floor Elevations, as well as site inspections on those properties FEMA believed were non-compliant.

Letters will be going out to property owners of those more than 1,200 properties to alert them to the findings.

“I want these people to have a heads-up that the notices are coming,” Ricks said. “While disconcerting, a substantially damaged finding is not the end of the line. If, at some point in the future, those owners decide to make structural changes that would trigger mitigation requirements, there is help available for mitigation as well as assistance to off-set associated costs.”

In the past, FEMA has threatened that Livingston Parish could lose its National Flood Insurance Program status for noncompliance after the 2016 flood, which would increase insurance rates for residents.