“Extreme weather is beginning to feel frighteningly normal and commonplace for many parts of the world. New Orleans is one of those places. The Crescent City is chronically battered by powerful hurricanes coming off the warming waters of the Gulf of Mexico. At the end of August last year, I watched Hurricane Ida hammer the city. It was 16 years to the day that Hurricane Katrina broke the city’s levee system, a disaster that resulted in over 1,800 fatalities. Ida was merciful in comparison, but the property damage was massive. I visited communities west of the city, La Place and Norco, that were devastated. I returned to New Orleans about a month ago. Contractors and roofers were hard at work making repairs to damage left by Ida eight months ago. They have four months left to finish the work before the next hurricane season.”
Read more at the Washington Post.