announcer: on this episode of "earth focus," lessons learned durinhurricankatrina e being puto the tt along e cst of losiana. so predictew orlns will be suerged byhe endf this cenry. the gion's survival dends on s abity to apt climatehange. i succeful, louiana may provide bluepri for oers arnd the wld. [film advance clicng]

tucker:here werfamili here.here werkids in e stre playi footbal right? the wereeighbo. this house was the candy lady. as kid we woulcome dow andpend ouruarters d t here this poh and ea and jusenjoy thatmosphe the counity, rht, and tht went ay justvernig. it ju got wasd away. [helicoer whirrg] ma: we are seeing enes lik th one thrghout thcity. iebermando you rember if you told em thatthe vees habroken? bro: i don't reca

specifally, buit was tt ne orleanss floodi. waers: no.it. knoed over em planton their rch la night,uh? ss is se upset th you. couple months o, we haa rain stm, just ordinary rainstorin southst louiana. it s one of the days tt we thoht, "heyjust a ltle rain but low ad behol the ci flooded.he draine system was not up to par. tuer: we led hurrines as kidsi rememb when e calm ca, we wou play ouin the water. was jusanother y off froschool, right,ut now

it's terrifng. i's teifying walters:his is n a hoax thiis real.limate cnge rel, so hodo we ve with it? i ink in ts sectn of town, 're srting to underand thatater and clite change goes hd in hand. johon: neorleans n the st 5 to years hareally taken a greatdaptatioof clima resiliee and cimate chae. elevaon is onof the maor adaptions thayou sotimes se is thathe hous are raid higher this ishe centefor the suainable gagementnd develoent. wehave rai gaens herewe help communies how tbuild ra

garden we alsoave a orchd. you s over he, we havlemons. t us oneff here. ater katina, yohad all these tons from e water,o at wentnto the il, and that's all er the lower ninth ward and probably a lot in louisiana. evidently, the process of going through the trs to beafruit, idoesn't come in t fruit. also, we recommenabove-begardens where yocan put esh soilo give yourops thaare not inted wh that pnt. wht we've trd to do help with theommunityo first edate th becausthey ge nfused aut, you ow, is climate ange a pitical ise. is iteal? wjust try to givehem the cts. thewe try to sw how th can be advates f how we adapt to at clima. cker: ife don't do somethg, allhis beau of new orlns thatveryby love touristcome dowto see, th' lking at

just water. tt's it. willia: the pl we've reli onelieves at we cafight ter, anif you've ev been to a ach when there's a rtide a you thk you c ght wate you willearn that y will le that btle. waggoner: with a climate adaptation plan, you have a wet system and a dry system, so when you need to lift water out, you can do that, but when you ne to let e water in, 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 perft vetation wn you want war to absb and be able to ssipate a more gradl rate. mean, itoesn't loolike a t of natur science,ut ther's a lot o tural sence thagoes int it. wagoner: cts less ave green frastrucre becau this is low-maintenance. this is a model of a part of the city as the mn draige basin yohave an dergrounsystem, e whitnes undethe ear. the id was to t the waternto thespipes, tget thatater tthespumps 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.t's t enoughit will never be enugh. waggone you kno decades of dong thwrong thg usuall ki you.e got oudeath warning 2005. williamsif the was a liticawill to ke sure

hat thisity seesnother00 yers, it wld meahaving ery beatiful, very aesthetic blueways along with greenways throughout the city, 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 starteto get rlly serus about costal isss, and ty staed to thk about sk reduion, procting pele fm floodi, togeth with restotion as e thing at needs toe addresd, and s we me up th this astal master an whichs a li of pjects at havbeen scientically vette and so we ve projes that ddge mateal from e ple and pu

it ianother ace to aually bui new mares wherehere's en wat at the ment. on th risk-rection de, we ve extsive sees of levees a floodgas around ome crital coast counities.hese arerojects that we think will rk, not rk now,ut work to the fute. man: thiis skyla 5478 vember. kolr: stat's cstal masr pln is a50 billi, 50-yea pl. i conser myself an eanograpr ana coasta ologist,o i lo at issus le why weink in lisiana, d i alslook aissues like howe rebud coasta landspe. the rrier isnds are one of the first lines of defense against a storm, right, so notice how this is now pretty much continuous. there's no channels in the middle of it.

this is an example of a restored barrier island. all rht. en you c senew orles, so th's e of the mor post-trina lee improments, sthidea waso basally to ll off ts area prevent storm sge fro getng to thlower nih ward. leve are somimes bui with earth,nd sometes they're built wi concrete, b the coreoint is that ty are al a wall at protes an are from was anrising waters rom a srm. the ggest variae in thiis sea lel rise. the sl level rise rates are athe low e of the specum of what peopl pdict, th you cou rebuild large aas of thlandscap and pride flooprotecti foa lot ofeople. irates ar at the gh end, en i think lot of eas wilbe lost,ven wi the state's best forts.

l rightwell, weome to codrie. e maste plan eds a l of inpu and so e 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 lo like. you canee that ere's rsh foriles in at direcon. mahes pride a loof buffe om storenergy, they're a bufr betweeour huma civilition and the seaso the restoraon invols pumping sement inta marsh ke this to rse the evation o allow it toetter keep pacwith sea levelise and fill inreas

that have eroded sothiss the bua dove stcture, wch is onof the major fldgates ithe morganzto the gf levee systm. with levee,ne questi that yohave is who's insid and whis outde the lee syste by drawg this walin the msh, you're chging thenvironme, but yo'e also sting dowa serieof princles of w lives wre and t kindsf chices thathese counities face the yea ahead, me of whicare gointo be ve, very tou choices.

bert p. quin: th area usedo be lov's lane cause therwas treeall overhe place. u cou get ihere a go hide ck thereso w'd listen music a hang ou wityour gifriend.'all d't ind if iay that,uh? all rit. i wasorn and ised rightere, n theall gss rig here. iuess it presenthere allf my anctors wasorn and ised nd died,nd a l is buri ov here, s well, to me, means ahole bun. comardelle: the land is important to us because it's where our ancestors settled. that's where e famili are. that's whe the hea of who we ares. it's a sace at we becomone with

alrt p. nain: the dians we in theay of e white man, sohey all sign eaties f more la and mor land, anthat' how we t to ov here. t governmt chaseus, so we settd over hee and wahappy, a now ther nare is geing us awy. unet: ts is my andparen ony mothe's se, my grndmoth and my andfatr righthere. was raid here my whollife. y. isle d jean charlesas alwaybeen a 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 the morng and s armadil in theard or ossum or

ccoon,ou kno crossinthe yad or whaver, whaot. all that h changedecause, th a lo of it jt being ter now, e tes have ed off. at u' seeing actualljust a keleton of wt it useto , you kw? bert p.aquin: tme, it ans alst, i gus you ca say, lika familyember hang cancer, u know? 'seing aten awa you kno where it's just little b by litt bit gting desoyed. no the only thg is,he pie of lan is lting lonr than t human dy can.

the one ght heres an o fielcanal. ere's one tht passesere. the's one th passes bit furer, anthere's onthat pass in the ck, you're lookg at water oraltwaterntrusion ming om theipeline nals, anthey desoyed the vegetaon that used to have. butyou knowmost of e people wk for thoil comnies. th'rethe one that's putng food d payin thrent andortgagesnd stuff li that, s as muchs you hate the you he to like them. dup: isle djean chaes is-- what's t commonsaying?-the

canaryn the mi field. 're seein-over he, we calit 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 noti differees when you're alady onlylightly ove the ter likesle de jeanharles. brunetin theeginningit was a slow ocess. iwas real not rely noticbl but the whever theater staed cominin even re with , it got to bmore rad becaue theyad more ter comi in a the ld did't snd a chae,

so many ople on eir o did makthe decion to go becau of the ter. dena naqn: my damoved of the iand, i wt to s, righ fore i w born beuse he wasn't ablto get twork wit theoad floong and hneeded to rk, but i from th biloxi-ctimacha-octaw ba of isle jean chles, and that's my ritage, at is my dghter's hertage. y know, that's our mily legy. alber pnaquin:aah! aughter] get allhe peoplwho wille nam. hurry , farmeroy. a ild was rn, evrybody wt and vit

androught aift. nowt's t happeni. hank youor toda's srise. aiden, u want indianame? yes. your na is litt fox. th displacent real, really mada changen our cuure. now weind of le-- ha hha!--likthere arno indians, ok dup: the on way these astal mmunitiewill rvive into thlater 21 centu is to ptect ourlves fm the gu of meco. i realizin 300 yrs, thisill 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 d is buy rselve two o3 genetions.

it's just about impossible t includthem inta levee stem. it uld costrobably $300 million, and it would be nearly impossible because the salt nditionsre so ba u know, build a lood-proction prect, you have toave moreenefitsthan ost. onehing th's t faored in e cost, ey only look athe cost the hom, the st of thbusiness, the frastrucre, but,ou know, don't knohow y put arice it, buthey do n conside the st of a ole culte. [film advancelicks] [tom-toplaying] mardelleas displement

epsappeningnd we just fuher sepate our commity,t' just gelost. [men anti] man: tn to theeft. coardelle:e learneabout a nional dister resience plan coetition,o we subtted ourlans. weorked to fitith thstate's master planand theyresentedt, and it gofunded. saders: rit now, t way rocationsypicallyappein the unid stateswe rely anndividuabuy-out del, anso, i othewordssomeone

reiv some coensation to goive somewherelse, but in dog so, wdo losthat culral fabr, so we n't real kw if we n move people clectivelas a gro cheaper d more eiciently than iividuals comaelle: the's ry lile posite in t form of settleme of people. you know,overnments just don't do it wel we prested a diffent mode communitdesigned mmunitdriv. i thi that 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 thi th's whso many peoe are watcng, becae 'sike, "okcan we rlly t this ght?" beuse we kw hoimportanit is fothe fure of t wor to get right

unet: tre'a reali there that ion'ke, butt' somhinghat i ha to facep to cause, u see, had to therand make decisioto ave a ple that's alws been ho for 7r 8 generations, and that wasn't easy to let go of, a, in fac in spitof swering at questn a few times, it still doesn't make it sy. ilm advae clicks mardellesohis is t new prerred sitfor the land. this ishere ourommuty is gonna ve to. 's a betiful ple. to me, this i w life, w birth, suainable ace. thiis a healthspace.

nders: w, we donderstan thathis is historicly ibal counity, a we also derstandhat poputions havleft thi particur locion over period time, d thoseolks whore succesul in th projectill ve an oortunityo constite in theew locaon, but r primarset ofbeneficiies are e people ving on e islandwe want to pk up theeople th are liing in ts direscenario and eure thathey live somewhre that safe noand into thfuture. mardelle: i hope at the tri would o the lan and actualy, e sort like a xed ownehip. younow, the fol would he full rhts to their la, but athe same tim if theyere to gand wa to moveff of itit would revert bk to theribe so at waythatand wille foreve saed for t tribe thave. saers: we've g to walk etty finline bwhich we're deveping somhing thamakes sense f this counity bu also cou be applable to mucwider ary of couniti that y be ia simila

situion. we mply do't he good aner to that queion ye. comardee: i finthis vy empowing. '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, ou' havingo replaccars or furnure, youon't have chae toave savis, and y do't he a chan to allo yo kids toe a bett next stein life.tarting t in is piecef proper, 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. ■í÷í÷í÷í÷ñ

12/13/21 12/13/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from new york, this is democracy now! >> definition of hell on earth. people have lost everything. it is just terrible. amy: horrible. at least 100 people are feared dead after tornadoes devastated towns in eight states from kentucky rk