announcer: on this episode of "earth focus," lessons learned durinhurricankatrina e being puto the tt along e coast olouisian me predi new orlns will

be suerged byhe endf this cenry. the gion's survival depds on its abilitto adapt tolimate cnge. if sucssful, lisiana m provide bluepri for oers arnd the wld. [film advance clicng] cker: tre were milies here. tre were ds in th streetlayingootball,ight? therwere nghbors. this house was the candy lady. as kid we woulcome dow and snd our qrters an

si here onhis porcand eat itnd just joy the mosphere ofthe commity, rig, and that went ay justvernight it justot washeaway. elicopt whirrin ma: we areeeing sces like th one thrghout thcity. lberman: you rember if y told thm that e leees had oken? browni don't recall specifally, buit was tt ne orleanss floodi. walts: no. s. ock over th plants heir poch lastnight, hh? mis is somupset wi you.

aouple ofonths ag we had in stor just a dinary rainstorin southst louisi it waone of the days tt we thoht, "hey, st a lite rain,"ut low ad behol the ci ooded. t drainagsystemas not up to par. tuck: we lov hurricas as kids. i rememb when thcalm ca, we wou play ouin the ater. itas just other da ff from hool, right,ut now it'terrifyi. it's terrfying. lters: ts is not hoax. ths is rea climatehange is rea so how we liveith it? i ink in ts sectioof wn, we're staing to

understd that wer and lima changgoes hand in nd. johnsn: new leans ithe la 5 to years hareally taken on great aptation climateesiliencand clate chang elevati is one the maor adaptions thayou somemes see,s thathe hous are raid higher this is the center for the sustainable engagement and development. we have rain gardens here. help mmuniti how to ild rain rdens.e also he a orard. youee over re, we have mons. geus one o re. afr katina, yohad all ese toxi from thwater, s tht went io the so, 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 ome in theruit. also, we recommenabove-begardens where u can pufresh so to ve you cps that e not

tanted witthat poi. whawe've trd to do help th the cmunity tfirst edate em becaue they t coused abo, you ow, is imate chge a polical issu is it rl? wjust try o give tm the fas. then we y to shohow th can be advates f how we apt to at clima. cker: ife don't do methin all ts beautyof new orlns thatverybod loves,ourists me down e, the'llbe loong at just water. tt's . willia: the pl we' relied on bieves th we can ght ter, anif you've ev been to a beh when the's ripde andou thinyou can

fit water,ou will arn 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 needo let thwater , you n let thwater in thrgh that stemnto the nals a circula it arou thcity. willms: i ansome peole mighwalk pas here an think, "oh, yea it'just overown ass." . it's a w-lying ea thatas certain vegetion in ithat is e perfect vegetion wheyou want war to absb and be able to ssipate a more gradl rate. mean, itoesn't look ike a loof natur science,ut ther's aot of naural scice thagoes int it. ggoner:osts lestoave green frastrucre becau this is low-maintenance. this is a model of a part of the city as the main drainageasin.

you ve an unrground stem, e white lis under e ear. the id was to t the ater io these pes, to t thatater tthespumps and ush it o. that w the thod. wiiams: trh of theatter is, the is no y to sol our waterssues wi just ou pum and turnes. 's no ough. will never be enoh. ggoner:ou know,ecades of dong thwrong thg usuall killou. wgot our ath rning in005. lliams: thereas a poitical ll to ma sure tt this cy sees aother 30 yers, it wld mean ving 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 started get reay serious about coaal issue and the staed to thk about sk reductn, proteing peop fm floodi, togeth with restoraon as onthing th eds to baddresse and so we ca up wi this cotal aster an which ia li of procts at havbeen scienticallyetted,nd so we ve projes that ddge mateal from e place and pu it ianother ace to aually buildew mares wherehe's opn watert the mont. on th risk-rection de, we ve extsive sees of vees a floodgas around ome crital coast commities. these arerojects thawe thinkill worknot wok now, b work in the fute. n: this skyla 5478

noember. kolke state's coaal maste pln is a $ billion50-year plani conser myselan eanograpr and coastal ologist,o i lo at issus likwhy we sk in louiana, an i also ok aissuesike how we rebuilcoastal 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. th you can senew orles, so th's e the maj post-kaina leve improvents, so the ea was t 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 core pnt is that ty are al a wall at protes an are

from was and sing waters rom a srm. the ggest variae in thiis sea lel rise. the sealevel rise rates are athe low e of the specum of wh people prect, thenou couldebuild rge are of the ndscape and prove flood otection for lot of pple. if tes aret the hi end, th i think aot of eas wilbe ost, en wi the state's best forts. l rightwell, weome to codrie. thmasterlan neds a lotf input,nd so th kind owork thai do fee into t parameters thathe ste needss part oits masteplan.

so, younow, i jt wantedo gi you a vw of whathe salt marshes ound here lo like. you canee that ere's mah oriles in at direcon. marss prove a lot buffer frm storm ergy, sohey' a buffebetween r human vilition andhe sea, the restorati invols pumping sement inta marsh ke this to raisehe elevaon to low it to bter keep pacwith sea level re and toill in aas that have eroded so this ithe bubbdove struure, whi is one the jor fldgates ithe rganza the gullevee systm. with levee, o questionhat you ve is ho'insid and whis outde the lee syste by drawg is wall the mar, you're channg the eironmentbut yo'ralso setng down

series princips of who lives wre and t kindsf chices thathese counities face inhe yearshead, so of which e going be veryvery tou choices bert p. quin: th area used tbe lover' lane cause therwas treeall overhe place. you could get iherend go hide ck thereso w'd listen music a hang ou with ur girliend. y'al do't md if i s that, h? all righ i was bn and raed

right hre, n the tall gra rightere. i gss it reresent wre all omy anctors wasorn and ised a died, a a lots buri overere, awell, soo me, it means ahole bun. comardelle: the land is important to us because it's where our ancestors settled. at'where arfamiliesre. that's wherehe heartf who e are i. it's a space at we becomone with alrt p. nain: the dians werin the w of thwhite man, so ty all signed trties forore landnd more nd, and that'sow we goto ov here. t governmt chaseus, so we settleover hee and wahappy, a now ther nare is geing us away.

brnet: thiis my grdparents ony mothe's se, my grandmothernd my andfatr righthere. was raid here whole fe. yesisle de jeanharles h always en a wonderfuplace toive. the islandidn't actuly open to the rld full not until outhe earlyifties wn our ro was bui. itas very sy to wa up in he morni and seermadillo in the yd or opoum or a raccoon, yu know,rossing e yad or whaver, whaot. all that hashanged bause, wi a lotf it jusbeing war now, th tre have died off. at u'reeeing is actualljust a skeletoof what used to be you kno alert p. nuin: to , it mes almosti guess u can y, like family mber havi

ncer, yoknow? i's bng aten ay, you kw, where it'just a ttle bity little bit gting desoyed. no the ly thin is, t piecof land is lting lonr than t human bo can. the one ght heres an o field nal. thre'one tht passesere. the's one th passes bit furer, and ere's onthat pass in the back, soou'e lookinat water oraltwaterntrusion ming om the peline nals,

anthey desoyed the vegetati that wesed to have.. b, you kn, most othe people wk for thoil comnies. th'rethe one that's putti food anpaying the nt and mtgages a stuff likehat, so,s much ayou te them,you hav to li em. dupreisle de an charl is-- what's theommon ying?-he nary ithe mineield. w're seeing-ver herewe call relate sea lel rise. u havehe globasea leverise, ich islight, t about % the seaevel rishere is becau of subsence, we bo subsidi and youave the global a level se at th same te, so w are snking b

i ink it's 3 mlimeters yea it doe't sod like much, t you gonto 40 years50 yearsand you art o noticeifferenc when you're alady onlylightly ove the ter likesle de jean crles. brunetin the binning, was slow press. it s really not real noticeae,ut then whener the wer start cominin even re with , it got to bmore rad becaue they h more war comingn andhe landidn't sta a chae, many pele on thr ownid makthe decion to go becausef the war. na naqui my dad ved off the isld, i wanto sayrigh bere i wasorn becae he wasn't able get to rk with theoad floong and hneeded

to wo, t i amrom the loxi-chimacha-chtaw band isle deean chars, and that's my hetage, th is my dauter's herige. younow, at'our faly legac alber pnaquin:aah! [lghter] t all t people o will b namedhurry upfarmer b. a chd was bo, evebody wenand visi and bught a gt. now 's no appening tnk you f today's sunse. den, you want andian me? yes. yr names littleox. theisplacemt reallyreally made change iour culte. now weind of le-- ha ha !--like ere are indns, ok?

dup: the on way these cotal counities ll suvive io the ter 21st centu is to ptect ourlves fm the gu of meco. i realize 300 yea, this wl probablbe all on water. i mea the seaill takes all overwhat i'm tryg to do th th levee stem, wt i' tryg to do, is buourselve two o3 generaons. it's just about impossible t clude em into a levee sysm. it wod cost pbably $300 million, and it would be nearly imposble because the salt nditionsre so ba u know, build a fod-proteion prect, you ve to he more befits an cost. onehing th's no facted in thcost, th only

look at t cost ofhe homes the co of the sinessesthe inastructu, but, y know, i don't know howou put price ont, but ty do notonsider the co of a whe cultur filmdvance ccks] om-tom aying] cordelle: displacent kepsappeningnd we just fuher sepate our communy, it'llust get st. [men chting] man: turto the lt. coardelle:e learneabout a natnal disaer resilnce an compition, swe submied our pns. we wked

to fit wh thstate's master planand theyresentedt, and it gofunded. sanrs: righnow, theay rocationsypicallyappen the unid stateswe rely an iividual buy-out del, and so, inther ords, meone receiv some coensation to goive somewherelse, but in doinso, we o lose at culral fabr, so we n't really kw if we n move ople colctively a group eaper anmore effiently than iividuals comardle: the's ve litt positivin t form of resettleme of peopleyou know, gernments just don't do well.e presend a diffent mode communitdesigned

comunity-rien. i thnk that wa, hud loed on thatnd said, "et'try itlet'try a pot progr, see if we ca figure t how too this oa smler scalso we cachange for--" have soany communits in the u.s. d abroad hat'facing tse same clima issues,nd i thinkhat's why many peoe are watcng, becae 'sike, "okcan we rlly ge this rit?" beuse we kw how portant is for e fute of theorldo get it right. brnet: the's realityhere that ion'li, but i's somhinghat i ha to facep to beuse, you see, had to there d make aecision lee a placthat's alwaybeen homeor 7 o8 generations, and that wasn't easy to let go of, andin fact,n spite anering th questioa few times, it still doesn't make it

eay. ilm advae clicks mardellesohis is t new prerred sitfor the land. his is wre our cmuty is gonna mo to. it's a betiful ple. to methis is w life, w birth, sustnable ple. this a healthspace. saders: no we do uerstand that is is a storical trbal commity, ande also unrstand tt populaons have ft thisarticula locion over period time, an those fks who are successf in thisroject wl hae an opptunity t reonstitutin the n locati, but ouprimary t benefiaries arthe peop ving on e islandwe want to pk up theeople th are livg in thidire enario and ense that ty live somewhre that safe noand nto the ture.

comarlle: i hope that t ibe wou own theand, and acually, we sorof like xed ownehip. younow, the folksould havfull rigs to theiland, buat the se time, ithey werto go an wa to moveff of itit would vert bacto the tbe so th way, atand wille foreve sacredor the tbe to ve. saers: we've g to walk etty finline bwhich we're develong sometng that kes nse forhis commity but also cou be applable to much der arraof commniti that y be ia simila situatn. we sily don't hav a ood answ to tht questn yet. omarlle: i fd this ery empowering. 's alwing us brk down se of tho culral barers, se of those grf barrie that's en in ple from yrs past. you di'tven reale it. if evy other rricane ason, ou' havingo replaccars r furnite, you d't have

chanctoave savis, and y do't he a chan to allo yo kids toava betterext step life. srting ouin is piecef proper, they canave a ho and a w to progrs into t future.f i was tportray on an eangered specielist, th is ourebirth ere we c starour new pulationo get ofthat endgered spies lt.

announcer: "earth focus" is made possible in part by the orange county community foundation and the farvue foundation. ■■x■xwñaç ç

02/13/23 02/13/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we got out of the wreckage with our own means thankfully. asteria citizen helped us. we survived but our family still trapped inside. my mother and sister are still in the wreckage. amy: the death toll in turkiye and syria has topped 36,000 and counting a week after twin earthquakes devastated the