Enlarge 2007 photo by Mick Cochran, USA TODAY A rebuilt house in the Lakeview area of New Orleans shows the raised level that complies with suggested FEMA guidelines. WASHINGTON  Thousands of homes in New Orleans are at risk from floods because local officials let their owners skirt rebuilding requirements aimed at preventing massive losses and billions in costs to taxpayers. In New Orleans, city records show at least 2,300 homeowners — many in areas obliterated by Hurricane Katrina and imperiled again this month as Hurricane Gustav strained at the city's levees — escaped requirements that they elevate their homes. That was common across the coast, as officials faced intense pressure to rebuild quickly, says Shirley Laska, director of the University of New Orleans' Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology. Federal inspectors found examples of homeowners evading elevation requirements as far away as Alabama. If homeowners don't elevate, "it's the federal taxpayers who pay to fix it, time after time," says Larry Larson, head of the Association of State Floodplain Managers. That's because the owners still qualify for flood insurance. The 2005 hurricanes caused so much damage that the insurance program needed $20 billion from taxpayers. Flood insurance rules require that homes badly damaged by Katrina be elevated — by a few feet in some places to more than 10 feet in others — to protect them in the future. A 2006 report by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general said that after Katrina, local officials often lowered homeowners' damage estimates below the level that would require them to elevate, often without proof that the changes were appropriate. At the same time, even homeowners who want to raise their houses are having trouble paying. Louisiana has so far spent less than 10% of the $1.75 billion the federal government gave the state to elevate homes damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita three years ago. "If you want to be safe … you need to elevate," says Jim Stark, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Gulf Coast Recovery Office. That experience should be a warning to communities in Texas as they begin rebuilding after Hurricane Ike, says Jane Bullock, FEMA's chief of staff during the 1990s. Some Louisiana homeowners didn't want to elevate because they trust the region's levees, says Larson of the managers group. Others are worried homes on stilts won't look good. Some aren't required to have flood insurance. And elevating a house can be slow and expensive, adding $30,000 or more to the cost of rebuilding. Exactly how many homeowners escaped elevation requirements is unclear. K.C. King, who lives in New Orleans' Gentilly section, says about 125 of his neighbors have rebuilt, but only about a dozen raised their homes. "If that's not a portrait of failure, I don't know what is," he said. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more