Benjamin Franklin High School (New Orleans) Benjamin Franklin High School (New Orleans) Benjamin Franklin High School is a charter high school in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Commonly nicknamed "Franklin" or "Ben Franklin", this school should not be confused with Franklin High School in Franklin, Louisiana. Ben Franklin was founded in 1957 as a school for gifted children. In 1990, it moved to its current location on the campus of the University of New Orleans (UNO) in the Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks neighborhood of Orleans Parish, near Lake Pontchartrain. The school was damaged by several feet of flood water due to Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005,
Hurricane preparedness for New Orleans from the Mississippi River. In 1947, the Fort Lauderdale hurricane struck the New Orleans area. There was moderate wind damage. Flood prevention was largely successful in Orleans Parish, but there was severe flooding in the new East Jefferson suburbs near the Lake. Hurricane Flossy in 1956 resulted in flooding in parts of Eastern New Orleans. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 alerted a new generation to the threat posed by major hurricanes. As radar showed the storm heading for the city, a mandatory evacuation of Eastern New Orleans was declared. The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal channeled storm surge into the metro area.