Endurance lessons: Louisiana backs Laura as she watches 15 years of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

As Louisiana and Texas prepare for Hurricane Laura to reach land, our primary goal is the safety of those in its path.

As we remember the catastrophe brought by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, fifteen years ago, Laura will hit the shores of the Gulf. One month later, Hurricane Rita devastated the area now threatened by Laura.

Like many of you, I watched in horror as news of my New Orleans hometown flooded and residents were stranded on rooftops. Katrina cost the lives of nearly 2,000 people, flooded more than a million homes and caused $ 161 billion in damage. The storm displaced hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom never returned to their lives. Everyone here has suffered, and as is often the case, colored communities have disproportionately suffered from it. For example, a black homeowner was three times more likely to live in a flooded area of ​​the city after Hurricane Katrina.

I will not go into a complete history of all the factors that contributed to the destruction of Katrina (Tulane professor Andy Horowitz has a new book, Katrina: A History, 1915-2015, which does it very well!), The loss of Louisiana. wetlands greatly aggravated the disaster.

Since the 1930s, the state has lost 2,000 square miles of wetland, the size of Delaware, which once provided New Orleans with vital storm protection. Louisiana could lose another 4,000 square miles over the next 50 years, making communities even more vulnerable.

The storms we face today and the anniversaries we observe are clear reminders of why we urgently need to restore and protect the Louisiana coast. Louisiana has made significant progress with Katrina and Rita, and we must make the most of that progress before it is too late.

1. Katrina was waking up and Louisiana was listening.

In the aftermath of Katrina and Rita, our state has gathered not just to heal, but to better rebuild and resolve the land loss crisis before the next storm.

Policymakers have set up the Coast Guard and Restoration Authority, a government agency overseeing a unified approach to coastal protection and restoration. In 2007, the organization developed the Coastal Master Plan, a scientific and publicly funded, first-of-its-kind climate adaptation plan, to identify and build projects that can better protect communities, infrastructure and wildlife. . Updated every six years to take into account the latest science and modeling, the plan has garnered the support of Governors and lawmakers on both sides, with billions of dollars being invested in vital coastal restoration and conservation projects across the state. EDF has worked with nonprofit partners in Louisiana for more than a decade to promote large-scale shoreline restoration projects, including sediment diversions that will reconnect the Mississippi River to build and protect tens of thousands of acres of wetland. Orleans. . These sediment drifts represent Louisiana’s best hope of maintaining a sustainable and productive delta for future generations and wildlife.

Louisiana has become a model of adaptability and resilience to the climate.

In addition to coastal rehabilitation, Louisiana has implemented an innovative program called LA SAFE (Louisiana Strategic Adaptations for the Future), which brings together more than 3,000 residents of the most vulnerable coastal communities to develop solutions for a more sustainable future. This work raised $ 41 million in community-based projects, from flooding homes, creating safe havens for fishing boats, and even relocating a neighborhood.

Recently, Governor John Bel Edwards signed two executive decrees that show how far the state has come and how seriously it is dealing with land loss and climate crises.

The first places flexibility at the heart of state governance. Led by a newly appointed Chief Resilience Officer, government agencies from education to transportation and healthcare will develop strategic plans to build greater resilience to the operations and strategies of their departments. The second mandate creates a Climate Working Group whose mission is to help Louisiana achieve clean zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The rate at which sea levels are rising will literally determine which communities in Louisiana can survive, so the risks could not be higher. As Louisiana pioneered climate change and resilience planning, the state can now provide a model for climate mitigation as a traditionally energy-dependent state.

3. Louisiana can increase equity and financial opportunities through offshore investment.

Investments in coastal restoration and conservation will protect lives and property and reduce storm damage. If done right, they can create greater equality and economic opportunities for the communities that need it most. The data center’s offshore index has shown how the government’s growing water management sector is creating well-paying jobs, even as more traditional industries such as oil and gas stagnate.

And a recent economic analysis found that constructing sediment diversions could create nearly 4,000 jobs and increase regional sales by $ 3 billion. It is important for contractors to do what they can to hire and procure locally, and for the government to put proper pressure to ensure this. Local community colleges have developed programs and degrees ashore to provide workforce development and training to meet the demand for these jobs. We can continue to escalate this effort.

As Laura lands in Louisiana, we are reminded that we must act urgently to prepare for a future filled with more hurricanes and higher seas.

In Louisiana, that means working to create a smaller but sustainable and abundant delta, and making it as fair and equitable as possible. This is true beyond Louisiana. Every coastline state should have a plan for how it faces a similar future, and many states, from New Jersey to Florida, are making significant strides on this front.

Nothing can remove the pain and loss caused by Katrina and Rita in our area. Our storms changed forever. We must remember that moment in our history, so we take the necessary steps to never repeat it again.