I have a dumb question so nobody flame me please.
Are those houses which are nearly submerged salvagable? I can't imagine they would be with mold, diseases, chemicals, etc. Do they tear them all down and start again?
In prior years, probably yes, because this is the same area severely flooded in 1969 when they blew up a levee to save (richer) New Orleans, and many of those houses appear to be much older than 36 years. Don't know about current day regulations.
By this time tomorrow, they will be total losses. No chance in **** of salvaging them at that point.
Tear down, start over. If they start over - it would not surprise me if they just raze vast tracts and never rebuild them.
Some of the older ones, with already creaky foundations, probably be raized and rebuilt. The older ones that are more up to spec will probably survive.
I don't know. My parents' home flooded several years ago. The water quickly came up about 36 inches in the house then went down really quickly as well. They still had to tear out all of the drywall, insulation, etc and essentially gut the first floor for about an hour and a half of water.
It's not a dumb question. I don't know the answer, but suspect it depends on how badly water damaged the house is. Streets in some parts of Queens flood when it rains too much and I don't think those houses are always torn down.
Most are salvagable with lotsa work
Probably not salvagable. They will be under water for many weeks. The plaster and most glued board product will be shot. The wood will soak up too much water and be near impossible to dry and work with.