hurricanes – Climate360 News

Southern Louisiana at risk of more severe hurricanes, heavier rainfall as planet warms

16Jun

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Community, Louisiana State University, Science

Southern Louisiana at risk of more severe hurricanes, heavier rainfall as planet warms

Broken tree limbs and debris sit aside a road in Lake Charles, Louisiana, after Hurricane Laura brought up to 137 mph winds to the City. Photo by Rob Perillo. By Josh Archote, Domenic Purdy LAKE CHARLES, LA – The last year of extreme weather in Louisiana has been devastating. Two back-to-back major hurricanes, an ice storm and a spring flood have left the region, especially Southwestern Louisiana, in a perpetual state of recovery.  The state’s fifth largest city, Lake Charles, has suffered greatly from each catastrophe, leading the Weather Channel to call it the “most weather-battered city” in America.  Today, as the state enters what’s projected to be another active hurricane season, residents are still battling with insurance compani...

‘We’re tired. But we’re strong’: the future of weather-battered Southwestern Louisiana

By Josh Archote, Domenic Purdy LAKE CHARLES, LA -- Lifelong Lake Charles, Louisiana, resident Madeline Reeves has lived through multiple hurricanes and floods. But the last year of natural disasters in Southwestern Louisiana has been unprecedented. Madeline Reeves, pictured right, a 24-year old nurse, and her mother, Lisa Thompson, have lived in Lake Charles their entire lives. Reeves, a 24-year-old nurse at Lake Charles’ largest hospital, said she’s observed increased sickness in her patients after hurricanes Laura and Delta displaced thousands in 2020. “I see a lot of the effects of people being displaced, not having access to their medication or ignoring problems they may have been experienci...

Carbon storage, hurricanes and history: The importance of preserving coastal wetlands

Louisiana wetlands continue to disappear, threatening to displace coastal communities and release stored carbon into the atmosphere By Nicole Nguyen BATON ROUGE, LA – Louisiana native Jack Green’s family grew up in Lake Charles, and their history is rooted in the state and its natural landscape.  “People tie their culture to Louisiana and all these different cultures that are so endemic to the coastline, and I think that’s all tied to the land and appreciation of natural wildlife,” Green said. But many of the wetlands Green’s family grew up around had eroded by the time he was born. “When my parents were growing up, they would tell me stories of what it used to look like prior to now,” Green said. “There's still a little bit ...