Four years ago, Levees.org purchased the last remaining house at the site of a major levee breach that had not yet been torn down or renovated.

That house was 4918 Warrington Drive, just a stone’s throw from the London Avenue Canal breach site.

We wanted to create a museum to commemorate and memorialize the flooding of August 29, 2005 caused by the Army Corps of Engineers’ poorly engineered levees.

But Levees.org faced a challenge. We needed permission from the City of New Orleans to convert the residential family home into a cultural monument for visitors.

The plan was to stabilize the blighted exterior, fix the hole in the roof, and replicate the front living room space to show how it looked right after the floodwaters were pumped out.

Six months later, with the full support of the Filmore Gardens neighborhood residents, the City Planning Commission unanimously voted in favor of the project.

Then working with the Department of Safety and Permits, the project was approved and built over the next two years.

The grand unveiling was in March of 2019. The event even received national attention.

The Flooded House Museum is the result of a partnership between the neighborhood residents, the City of New Orleans and Levees.org.

But on August 8, 2016, it was all just an idea.