announcer: on this episode of "earth focus," lessons learned rinhurricankatrina e ing put the tesalong th oast of uisian me predi new orleans wil be bmerged the en of this cenry. the gion's survival depds on s abity to apt tolimate cnge. if sucssful, lisiana m provi a bluepnt for oers arnd the wld. [filadvance clicng]

tucker:here werfamilies here.here werkids in e street playingootball,ight? the wereeighbo. this house s the cay lady. kids, wwould co down andpend ouruarters d t here this poh and ea and jusenjoy thatmosphe ofthe commity, rig, and tht went ay ju overnig. it ju got wasd away. elicopt whirrin man: are sing scen like this onehroughouthe city iebermando you rember if you told em thatthe leees had oken?

bro: i don't reca specifally, but it washat w orlea is floong. waers: no.it. knoed ovethem plas on their rch la night,uh? mis is somupset wi you. aouple ofonths ag we had ran storm,ust a ornary rainstorin southst louiana. it s one of the days tt we thoht, "hey, st a lite rain,"ut low ad behol the ci flooded.he draine syst was not upo par. cker: loved hurricaneas kidsi rememb when e calm came, weould plaout in t ater. itas just other da

off froschool, right,ut now it's terrifng. it's teifying lters: ts is not hoax. ths is rea climatehange is rel, so hodo we li with it? i ink in ts sectn of town, 're srting to underand thatater and lite chae goes hd in hand. johnsn: new leans ithe st 5 to years hareally taken on great aptation climateesiliencand clate chae. elevaon is onof the maor adaptions thayou sotimes se is thathe housesre raisehigher. thiis the cter for e sustnable engement a developmt. we ve rain gards here. help

communies how tbuild ra garden we alsoave a chard. y see ovehere, we havlemons. t us oneff here. ater katina, yohad all these tons from e water,o tht went io the so, and that's all er the lower ninth wardnd probay a lot losiana. evintly, th rocess ogoing through the trs to beafruit, idoesn't come in t fruit. also, we recommenabove-begardens where u can pufresh so to ve you cps that e not tanted witthat poi. wht we've trd to do help with theommunityo firs edate them becse theyget nfused aut, you ow, is climate ange a pitical ise. is iteal? wjust try o give them the fas. then we y to shohow ey can b advates f how we adapt to at clima. cker: ife don't do somethg, allhis bety of new oeans th everyby loves,ouristcome dowto e, th' lking at

jt water.hat'it. wiiams: the plan we've ried onelieves at we cafight ter, anif you've ev been to a ach when tre'a rtide a you thk you c ght wate you willearn that y will le that btle. waoner: wi a clite adaption plan, y have a t system a a dry stem, so whn you nd to li water out, y can dthat, buwhen you ne to let e water , yocan let e water thrgh thasystemnto thse nals a circula it arou e city. willms: i ansome peole mighwalk pas here an think, "oh, yh. it's just orgrown

grass.no. it's low-lyi ea thatas certain vegetion in ithat is e perfect vetation wn you want war to absb and be able to ssipate a more grual ratei mean, doesn't loolike a t of natur scienc but the's lot o tural sence thagoes int it. wagoner: cts less ave green frastrucre becau ths is lowaintenan. thiis a mod of a pa of the city the main draina basin. you ve an unrground stem, e white lis under e ear. the id was to t the aternto thespipes, tget th watero the pumps and ush it o. that w the method. wiiams: trh of theatter is, ere is nway to sve our wat issues th just r pps and tbines. it's t enoughit willever be enough. ggoner:ou know,ecades o dong thwrong thg usuall ki you. wgot our ath rning in005.

lliamsif thereas a poitical ll to ma sure hat thisity seesnother00 yers, it wld mean having very eautiful, very athetic bleways alg with genwa throhout theity, us living with water, so that when that next storm comes, because it's going to come--that's a fact-- that water has a place to go other than your cars and your homes and the street. [film advance clicks] reed: at some point after hurricane katrina, people started get really serus about costal isss, and ty staed to thk about sk reduion, procting pele fm floodi, togeth with restoraon as onthing th eds to baddresse and s we me up wi this cotal aster an whichs a li of pjects at havbeen scieifically vette and so we ve projes that ddge

marial froone ple and pu it ianother ace to aually bui new mares wherehere's en wat at the ment. on the rk-reductn sidewe hae extensive ries of leveesnd floodtes arou some crical coaal mmunitie these a project thawe thi will wo, not wok now, b work in the fute. man: thiis skyla 5478 noember. kolke state's coaal maste pln is a $ billi, 50-yea plani coider mysf an eanograpr and coastal ologist,o i lo at issus le why weink in lisiana, d i alslook aissues like howe rebud coasta landspe. the rrier isnds are onef the fit lines defee ainst atorm, rit, so tice hothis is w pretty

ch contious. the's n channs in theiddle oft. this is examp of a reored barrr island all rht. th you c senew orles, so th's e the maj post-kaina leve improvents, so thidea waso basally to ll off ts area to preve a stormurge fro getti to the wer nintward. leve are somimes bui with earth,nd sometes they're ilt withoncrete, b the coreoint is that ty are al a wall at protes an are from ves anrising waters from atorm. thbiggest variae in thiis sea lel rise. the sealevel rise tes are the lownd of th specum of wh people pdict, th you cou rebuild rge are of the ndscape and prove flood otection for lot of pple. if tes are at the gh end, en i think aot of eas wilbe lost,ven wi the state's besefforts.

l rightwell, weome to codrie. e maste plan needs aot of int, and sthe kind owork thai do fee intohe paramers thathe ste needss part oits masr plan. so, younow, i jt wantedo ve you aiew of wt the sa marshearound here ok like. you canee thathere's rsh f miles ithat dirtion. marss prove a lot buffer om storenergy, they're a buffebetween r human vilition andhe sea, the restoration invols puing sediment inta marsh ke this to rai the eletion tallow it toetter keep pace with sea

levelise and fill inreas that he eroded so thiss the bua dove stcture, wch is onof the major fldgatesn the morganzto the gf levee systm. with levee,ne questionhat you ve is ho'inse and o is ouside the lev system.y drawin this walin the msh, you're chging thenvironme, but yo'ralso setng dowa series princips of who liveshere andhe kindsf chices thathese counities face the yea ahead, me of which e going be veryvery tou choic.

bert p. quin: th area used tbe lover's lane cause therwas trees all ov the place. you cou get in here a go hide ck thereso w'd listen music a hang ou with ur girliend. y'all d't ind if iay that,uh? all rit. i wasorn and ised rightere, n theall grass rightere. i gss it reresent wre all omy anctors wasorn and ised nd died,nd a l is buri ov here, s well, to me, means ahole bun. coardelle:he land is important to ubecause 's whre our aestors stled. that's wherare famies are. that's whe the hea of who we ares. i's apacthat we

becomone with alrt p. nain: the dians we in theay of e white man, sohey all signed trties forore landnd more nd, and that' how we t to ov here. t governmt chaseus, so we settleover hee and wahappy, a now mother ture is tting us awy. brunet: this isy grandpents ony mothe's se, my grandmoth and my andfatr righthere. was raid here my whollife. y. isle d jean charl has alws been wonderl place live. t isld didn't actally opeup to the rld fuy, not uil abouthe earlyifties wn our ad was blt. was vereasy to ke up in he morni and seermadillo

in the yd or opoum or ccoon, yu know,rossing e yad or whaver, whaot. all that h changedecause, th a lo of it jt being ter now, e tes have ed off. at you' seeing actualljust a keton of wt it useto , you kw? alert p. nuin: to , it means almo, i guesyou can y, like family mber havi ncer, yoknow? i's bng aten awa you kno where it's just little b by litt bit gting desoyed. no the only thg is,he piecof land is lting lonr than t human dy can.

the one ght heres an o fielcanal. ere's one at pass here. tre' one th passes bit furer, and ere's onthat pass in the back, you're lookg at water oraltwaterntrusion ming om the pipeline nals, anthey desoyed the vegetati that wesed to have.. b, you kn, most othe people wk for thoil comnies. th'rethe one that's putng food d payin the nt and mtgages a stuff likehat, s as muchs you te them,you hav to like them. dupreisle de an charl is--

what's theommonsaying?-the canaryn the mi field. 're seeing-ver herewe call relive sea vel riseyou ha the glol sea lel rise, whichs slightbut abou80% of the s level re here i becse of suidenceso we th subsing and y have th globasea leverise at e sameime, soe areinkingy, think i's 3illimete a yr. it don't und like muchbut you into yea, 50 yea, and yostart o noticeifferees when you're alady onlylightly ove the ter likesle de jean crles. brunetin the binningit was slow press. it s really not real noticeae, but the whener the wer start comg in evemore witit, it got to bmore rad becaue theyad more ter comi in

a the ld didn't sta a chae, so many ople on eir o did makthe decion to go becau of the ter. dena naqn: my damoved of thesland, iant to say, rit before ias born cause he wasn't able get to rk with theoad floong and hneeded to rk, but i amrom th biloxi-ctimacha-octaw ba of isle jean chles, and that's my ritage, at is my dghter's hertage. y know, at'our mily legy. alber p. naqui yaah! aughter] t all t people o will b namedhurry upfarmer b. a ild was rn,

evrybody wt and vit androught aift. nowt's t appening tnk you f today's sunse. aiden, u want indian name? yes. your na is litt fox. th displacent real, really mada changen our cuure. now kind ofive-- ha ha !--like ere are indians, ok dre: the ly way tse astal mmunitiewill rvive into the ter 21st cenry is torotect oselves fm the gu of meco. i realize 300 yea, this wl probay be allpen wate i mn, the s will ta us all ov. what 'm ting to dwith e leveeystem,hat i'm tring to do, is buourselve two o3 generaons.

it's just about impossible t includthem inta levee sysm. it wod cost pbably $300 milln, and iwould be nearlympossiblbecause e salt nditionsre so ba u know, build a fod-proteion prect, you ve to he more befits an ost. onehing th's t faored in e cost, ey only look at theost of t homes, the st of thbusiness, the inastructu, but, y know, i don't know howou put price ont, but ty do notonsider the st of a ole culte. [film advancelicks] [tom-toplaying]

mardelleas displement epsappeningnd we just fuher sepate our commity, it'llust get st. [men anti] man: tn to theeft. mardell we leard about natnal disaer resience an compition, swe submied our pns. we wked to fitith thstate's master planand theyresentedt, and it t funded sanrs: righnow, theay rocationsypicallyappein the unid stateswe rely anndividuabuy-oumodel,

anso, i othewords, meone reivesome compsation to goive mewherelse, bu in doinso, we o lose at culral faic, so wdon' real kw if we n move people clectivelas a gro cheaper d more eiciently than iividua. comaelle: the's ry lile posite in the form settleme of peleyou know, gernments just don't do it well.e presend a diffent mode communitdesigned mmunitdriven. i ink tha wa, hud loed on that and said, "et'try itlet'try a pot progr, see if we n figurout how do thisn a smler scalso we cachange it for--we have many communits in the u.sand abroathat's facinghese sam clima issue and i thinkh's whso many peoe are watcng, becae 'sike, "okcan we rlly t this ght?" beuse we kw how portant is for e fure of t wor to get

right brnet: the's realityhere that don't ke, butt' somhinghat i ha to facep to beuse, you see, had to there d make aecision lee a placthat's alwaybeen me for or 8 gerations, and that wn't sy to lego of, andin fact,n spite answerinthat queion a fe tis, it stl doe't ma it eay. ilm advae clicks mardellesohis is t new prerred sitfor the land. this ishere ourommuty is gonna mo to. it's a betiful ple. to methis is w life, w birth, sustnable ple. thiis a healthspace.

saders: no we do uerstand thathis is historicly ibal counity, a we also derstandhat poputions havleft thi particur loation ov a perioof time, d thoseolks whore successf in thisroject wl ve an oortunityo constite in theew locaon, but r primarset of beneciaries e the pele living othe isla. we wan toick up t people at are livg in thidirescenario and ense that ty live somewhre that safe noand nto the ture. comdelle: iope thathe tribe wld own t land, a actual, we ort of le a mid ownersp. you kw, the folks wld have ll rightto theiland, buat the se time, ithey werto go an nt to mo off of , it wou revert bk to theribe so at waythatand wille foreve sacr for theribe to ve. sanders: we' got to lk a prty fine ne by whh we'e developi somethi that mas sen for thicommunitbut alsoould be plicableo a uch widearray ofommunies

thamay ben a simir siation. wsimply d'tave good aner to at queion ye. omardelle: iind thivery empowering. 's alwing us brk down se of tho cultul barrirs, som of those griebarriershat's en in ple from yrs past. you di'tven reale it. if evy other rricane ason, you're havi to reple cars or furnure, youon't have chae toave savis, and y d't ave a chce to alw yo kids toe a bett next step life. srting ouin this pie of propty, they canave a ho and a w to progrs into t future.f i was tportray on an eangered specs list, is is ourebirth ere we c starour new pulationo get ofthat endgered spies ist.

announcer: "earth focus" is made possible in part by the orange county community foundation and the farvue foundation. ?ok!3ó9,xñ

08/30/21 08/30/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> as predicted by the national weather service, this is one of the strongest terms to make landfall here in modern times. amy: hurricane ida slammed into louisiana sunday, leaving a million people without power, including all of new orleans. the devastating storm hit 16 years to the dayft