Louisiana's $2-Billion Gamble: Flood the Land to Save the Coast

After Hurricane Ida slammed into the Louisiana coast in August 2021, it took more than 100 lives and cost billions of dollars in damage. To some here, the storm’s coming was just one more justification for a desperate measure to preserve the state’s coast by intentionally flooding it parts of the state.
“I don't mean to be alarmist about it, but anybody who’s spent any time along our coast, whether you’re fishing, hunting or working, you’ve seen the changes to our coast. We know it's going away,” says Bren Haase, executive director of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). “I don't think we can be successful without using the tools and the resources in the Mississippi River to help restore our coast.”
This project was partially supported by generous grants from Economic Hardship Reporting Project, the Pulitzer Center, the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship Program and the National Association of Science Writers.
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