"Those structures largely under water are tear downs. And it will be much cheaper to just build them from scratch. Think of the mold, the toxic waste, etc"
I don't have to think about it - I know a thing or three about this stuff.
They are salvaging submerged 100 year old, wide plank timber from the Great Lakes and it is outstanding quality.
And the "toxic" MSM mantra is just that - do you want toxic lumber - go to your back deck - that wolmanized wood is 100 times as toxic as anything in NO
Once exposed to air, the water logged wood needs to dry out quickly. That is what I have read. Things don't dry out quickly in NO.