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Projections indicate that solar energy will constitute 55% of total electricity capacity by 2050 in the US. Despite solar energy's growing importance, few studies have analyzed the risks of countrywide deployments of solar infrastructure due to extreme weather events such as hurricanes. This paper presents a probabilistic framework to evaluate the performance of solar infrastructure to generate energy during hurricanes, which often cause significant outages in the US. Our novel framework integrates recent data-driven models that capture two critical and compounding factors: transient cloud conditions that decrease irradiance and high winds that can cause permanent panel damage. We apply the framework to the 2,694 counties in the 38 central and eastern US states to elucidate the risk landscape of solar generation during hurricanes. Our results show that hurricane impacts are significant, compounding, and strikingly disproportional in the US. We show that in Florida and Louisiana, clouds rapidly reduce solar generation to 32% and 65%, respectively, of their normal levels with a return period of 100 years. Our results also show that damage to panels can induce more acute and permanent energy losses, especially in rarer storms, e.g., causing 80% more losses than hurricane clouds 2 days after landfall for 200-year events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. The effects of the hurricane were particularly devastating in the city of New Orleans. Most of the damage was due to the failure of the levee system that surrounds the city to protect it from flooding. This paper presents the results of centrifuge models conducted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers simulating the behavior of the levees at London Avenue North and South that failed during Hurricane Katrina. Those levees failed without being overtopped by the storm surge. Also included are the results of a centrifuge model of one levee section at Orleans Canal South, which did not fail during the hurricane. The key factor of the failure mechanism of the London Avenue levees was the formation of a gap between the flooded side of the levee and the sheetpile. This gap triggered a reduction of the strength at the foundation of the protected side of the levee. The results are fully consistent with field observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The failure of the New Orleans regional flood protection systems, and the resultant catastrophic flooding of much of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, represents the most costly failure of an engineered system in U.S. history. This paper presents an overview of the principal events that unfolded during this catastrophic hurricane, and then a more detailed look at the early stages of the event as the storm first drove onshore and then began to pass to the east of the main populated areas. The emphasis in this paper is on geotechnical lessons and it also includes broader lessons with regard to the design, implementation, operation, and maintenance of major flood protection systems. This paper focuses principally on the early stages of this disaster, including the initial inundation of Plaquemines Parish along the lower reaches of the Mississippi River as Katrina made landfall, and the subsequent additional early levee breaches and erosion along the eastern flanks of the regional flood protection systems fronting Lake Borgne that resulted in the flooding of the two large protected basins of New Orleans East and St. Bernard Parish. Significant lessons learned include (1) the need for realistic assessment of risk exposure as an element of flood protection policy; (2) the importance of considering erodibility of embankment and foundation soils in levee design and construction; (3) the importance of considering all potential failure modes; and (4) the problems inherent in the construction of major regional systems over extended periods of multiple decades. These are important lessons, as they are applicable to other regional flood protection systems in other areas of the United States, and throughout much of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The failure of the New Orleans regional flood protection systems, and the resultant catastrophic flooding of much of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, represents the most costly failure of an engineered system in U.S. history. This paper presents an overview of the principal events that unfolded in the central portion of the New Orleans metropolitan region during this hurricane, and addresses the levee failures and breaches that occurred along the east–west trending section of the shared Gulf Intracoastal Waterway/Mississippi River Gulf Outlet channel, and along the Inner Harbor Navigation Channel, that affected the New Orleans East, the St. Bernard Parish, and the Lower Ninth Ward protected basins. The emphasis in this paper is on geotechnical lessons, and also broader lessons with regard to the design, implementation, operation, and maintenance of major flood protection systems. Significant lessons learned here in the central region include: (1) the need for regional-scale flood protection systems to perform as systems, with the various components meshing well together in a mutually complementary manner; (2) the importance of considering all potential failure modes in the engineering design and evaluation of these complex systems; and (3) the problems inherent in the construction of major regional systems over extended periods of multiple decades. These are important lessons, as they are applicable to other regional flood protection systems in other areas of the United States, and throughout much of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reports on the economic impact which Hurricane Katrina had on Louisiana and the Gulf Coast after it hit in August 2005. Difficulties which employees had after Hurricane Katrina hit the area are discussed, including relocation to another part of the U.S. and infrastructure problems in the Gulf Coast area. Comparisons are made in the paper regarding the labor market for people who returned to the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina and those who did not. Unemployment which was faced by people who evacuated the area and left their jobs is discussed.

Calibration and validation of traffic models is a necessary step to better fit model output to real-world conditions. Presently, there has been little research in this particular area of evacuation modeling because of a lack of observed traffic data from evacuation events. This paper provides a general framework for the calibration and validation of regional-scale evacuation models. The authors then present a case study in which calibration and validation is carried out for an evacuation model using observed evacuation data. The case study presents a traffic simulation model that was developed to analyze traffic conditions associated with a regional-level mass emergency evacuation for southeastern Louisiana, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The case study focuses on two important aspects of the model: traffic assignment calibration and network flow validation. The calibration procedure attempted to determine parameter values that would result in the most realistic traffic assignment by comparing assignment results with real-world traffic flows. The validation procedure revealed the importance of including background traffic in the simulation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to the main Orleans East Bank protected basin. This basin represented the heart of New Orleans, and contained the main downtown area, the historic French Quarter, the Garden District, and the sprawling Lakefront and Canal Districts. Nearly half of the loss of life during this hurricane, and a similar fraction of the overall damages, occurred in this heavily populated basin. There are a number of important geotechnical lessons, as well as geo-forensic lessons, associated with the flooding of this basin. These include the difficulties associated with the creation and operation of regional-scale flood protection systems requiring federal and local cooperation and funding over prolonged periods of time. There are also a number of engineering and policy lessons regarding (1) the accuracy and reliability of current analytical methods; (2) the shortcomings and potential dangers involved in decisions that reduced short-term capital outlays in exchange for increased risk of potential system failures; (3) the difficulties associated with integrating local issues with a flood risk reduction project; and (4) the need to design and maintain levees as systems; with each of the many individual project elements being required to mesh seamlessly. These lessons are of interest and importance for similar flood protection systems throughout numerous other regions of the United States and the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Hurricane Katrina an extensive investigation of the performance of floodwalls in the New Orleans area was undertaken by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and others. This investigation included detailed study of failures of cantilevered sheet pile “I-walls” during the hurricane. An important lesson from this investigation was that gaps can form on the canal side of I-walls as the water rises in the canal and causes the I-wall to deflect. Once formed, these gaps filled with water, resulting in significantly higher loads on the walls. Gap formation was a key factor in several I-wall failures, and modeling such gaps correctly is clearly an important aspect of analyzing I-wall stability. This paper describes simple procedures for estimating the depths of gaps behind I-walls, for calculating the loads to which they are subjected, and for including them in stability analyses. The effects of gaps on the stability of the 17th Canal and the London Avenue Canal I-walls are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting evacuation-related choices of households during a hurricane is of paramount importance to any emergency management system. Central to this problem is the identification of socio-demographic factors and hurricane characteristics that influence an individual's decision to stay or evacuate. However, decision makers in such conditions do not make a single choice but constantly evaluate current and anticipated conditions before opting to stay or evacuate. We model this behavior using a finite-horizon dynamic discrete choice framework in which households may choose to evacuate or wait in time periods prior to a hurricane's landfall. In each period, an individual's utility depends not only on his/her current choices and the present values of the influential variables, but also involves discounted expected utilities from future choices should one decide to postpone their decision to evacuate. Assuming generalized extreme value (GEV) errors, a nested algorithm involving a dynamic program and a maximum likelihood method is used to estimate model parameters. Panel data on households affected by Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall in Louisiana on 1 September 2008, was fused with the National Hurricane Center's forecasts on the trajectory and intensity for the case study in the paper. • Hurricane evacuation decisions are modeled using dynamic discrete choice methods. • Individuals take actions based on the one-step and the expected future utilities. • Parameterized components of the MDPs are estimated from data. • Proposed models are applied to panel data from households affected by Hurricane Gustav. • Choice probability elasticities are computed and model validation is performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Louisiana's coastal residents have endured centuries of hurricanes and decades of oil spills. Locally based, inherent resilient practices have enabled them to persist in place. This paper documents the evolution of actions taken by Louisiana's coastal residents that constitute effective resilient activities in the aftermath of disruptive events. It compares the efforts that arose from coastal communities that were rooted in local environmental knowledge with generic external programs designed to enable hazard mitigation, emergency response, and recovery form damaging hurricanes and oil spills. Additionally, it will identify points of opportunity to fortify resilience by integrating inherent and formal resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass evacuation of urban areas due to hurricanes is a critical problem in emergency management that requires extensive basic and applied research. Previous research uses agent-based models to simulate individual vehicle and driver behavior, and is limited mostly to a small study area due to the complexity of the models and the computational time needed. To better understand evacuation behavior, simulating the evacuation traffic in a larger region is needed. This paper develops a two-level regional disaster evacuation model by coupling two agent-based models. The first model uses each census block centroid, weighted with its corresponding number of vehicles, as an agent to simulate the local road network traffic. The second model, developed on the platform of a commercial software program called VISSIM, treats each vehicle as an agent to simulate the interstate highway traffic. This two-level agent-based model was used to simulate hurricane evacuation traffic in New Orleans. Validation results with the real Hurricane Katrina's evacuation data confirm that the proposed model performs well in terms of high model accuracy (i.e., close agreement between the real and simulated traffic patterns) and short model running time. The modeling results show that the average root-mean-square error (RMSE) for the three major evacuation directions was 347.58. Under a simultaneous evacuation strategy, and with 240,251 vehicles in 17,744 agents (census blocks), it would take at least 46.3 hours to evacuate all residents from the New Orleans metropolitan area. This two-level modeling approach could serve as a practical tool for evaluating mass evacuation strategies in New Orleans and other similar urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrinking, slow-growth and fast-growth cities have different opportunities and constraints. This paper uses New Orleans following the severe flood damage from the 2005 hurricanes as a case study to investigate the challenges to developing equitable and effective plans in a city with significant population loss. By addressing four elements that are necessary for effective planning in depopulated areas-strategies for targeted investment and consolidation; alternatives for underused areas; mechanisms to reintegrate abandoned parcels; and plans for infrastructure and service provision-we argue that the lack of effective tools was a pivotal impediment to effective planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flood caused by the failure of the levee system had a severe impact on low- and middle-income neighborhoods in the city of New Orleans. This paper presents the damage survey data collected in the neighborhoods of New Orleans East, the Lower Ninth, and the Upper Ninth during a series of field reconnaissance activities that spanned the period of November 2005 to April 2006. A total of 82 low- to middle-income residential buildings were surveyed for structural and nonstructural damage. Detailed observations on different building components are presented along with the depth of flooding experienced and the approximate geographic location of the surveyed buildings. A costing algorithm, developed in cooperation with local contractors, is presented as an aid to translate the damage observations into an estimate of the cost of repairs. The limitations of these observations and the sources of bias are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the fall of 2004 and spring of 2005, a plan was developed to facilitate the evacuation of southeast Louisiana, including the City of New Orleans, when under the threat of a hurricane. The plan was created by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the Louisiana State Police with the goal of eliminating or mitigating the traffic problems that were a part of the Hurricane Ivan evacuation that occurred in Sept. 2004. The cornerstone of the plan was to maximize the available roadway infrastructure within the region to move nearly the entire population in the most rapid and efficient manner. It incorporated the reversal of about 100 miles of interstate freeway across two states, restricted access to nearly 100 additional miles of freeway, while coordinating the transportation assets on a region-wide basis. This paper summarizes an effort to describe and quantify the effect of this regional evacuation plan on the movement of traffic across roadway infrastructure covering an area of nearly 75,000 square miles and a period of 3 days. The analyses illustrate the extent to which the evacuation impacted the roads in Louisiana, where these impacts were the most significant, how long they lasted, and how they compared to a prior evacuation plan in which a much lower level of management was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Information about circumstances leading to disaster-related deaths helps emergency response coordinators and other public health officials respond to the needs of disaster victims and develop policies for reducing the mortality and morbidity of future disasters. In this paper, we describe the decedent population, circumstances of death, and population-based mortality rates related to Hurricane Andrew, and propose recommendations for evaluating and reducing the public health impact of natural disasters.Methods: To ascertain the number and circumstances of deaths attributed to Hurricane Andrew in Florida and Louisiana, we contacted medical examiners in 11 Florida counties and coroners in 36 Louisiana parishes.Results: In Florida medical examiners attributed 44 deaths to the hurricane. The mortality rate for directly-related deaths was 4.4 per 1 000 000 population and that for indirectly-related deaths was 8.5 per 1 000 000 population. In Louisiana, coroners attributed 11 resident deaths to the hurricane. Mortality rates were 0.6 per 1000 000 population for deaths directly related to the storm and 2.8 for deaths indirectly related to the storm. Six additional deaths occurred among non-residents who drowned in international waters in the Gulf of Mexico. In both Florida and Louisiana, mortality rates generally increased with age and were higher among whites and males.Conclusions: In addition to encouraging people to follow existing recommendations, we recommend emphasizing safe driving practices during evacuation and clean-up, equipping shelters with basic medical needs for the population served, and modifying zoning and housing legislation. We also recommend developing and using a standard definition for disaster-related deaths, and using population-based statistics to describe the public health effectiveness of policies intended to reduce disaster-related mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power outages are a common outcome of hurricanes in the USA with potentially serious implications for community wellbeing. Understanding how power outage recovery is influenced by factors such as the magnitude of the outage, storm characteristics, and community demographics is key to building community resilience. Outage data are a valuable tool that can help to better understand how hurricanes affect built infrastructure and influence the management of short-term infrastructure recovery process. We conduct a spatial regression analysis on customers experiencing outages and the total power recovery time to investigate the factors influencing power outage recovery in Louisiana after Hurricane Isaac. Our interest was in whether infrastructure damage and recovery times resulting from a hurricane disproportionately affect socioeconomically vulnerable populations and racial minorities. We find that median income is a significant predictor of the time it takes to restore 50%, 80%, and 95% of the total outages within a ZIP Code Tabulation Area, even after controlling for hurricane characteristics and total outages. Higher income geographies and higher income adjacent geographies experience faster recovery times. Our findings point to possible inequities associated with income in power outage recovery prioritization, which cannot be explained by exposure to outages, storm characteristics, or the presence of critical services such as hospitals and emergency response stations. These results should inform more equitable responses to power outages in the future helping to improve overall community resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited research has evaluated the mental health effects during compounding disasters (e.g., a hurricane occurring during a pandemic), and few studies have examined post‐disaster mental health with alternative data sources like crisis text lines. This study examined changes in crisis help‐seeking for individuals in Louisiana, USA, before and after Hurricane Ida (2021), a storm that co‐occurred during the COVID‐19 pandemic. An interrupted time series analysis and difference‐in‐difference analysis for single and multiple group comparisons were used to examine pre‐and post‐changes in crisis text volume (i.e., any crisis text, substance use, thoughts of suicide, stress/anxiety, and bereavement) among help‐seeking individuals in communities that received US Federal Emergency Management Agency individual and public assistance following a presidential disaster declaration. Results showed a significant increase in crisis texts for any reason, thoughts of suicide, stress/anxiety, and bereavement in the four‐week, three‐month, and four‐month post‐impact period. Findings highlight the need for more mental health support for residents directly impacted by disasters like Hurricane Ida. Plain Language Summary: There is limited research evaluating the mental health effects of disasters happening within a short time of each other or at the same time and few studies have used crisis lines for post‐disaster mental health information. This study examined the change in crisis help‐seeking for individuals in Louisiana, USA, before and after Hurricane Ida (2021), which occurred in the same time period as the COVID‐19 pandemic. Our analyses looked at the change in crisis help‐seeking behavior before and after Hurricane Ida for any crisis text, substance use, thoughts of suicide, stress/anxiety, and bereavement in communities that received assistance following the hurricane. Results showed a significant increase in crisis texts for any reason, thoughts of suicide, stress/anxiety, and bereavement in the 4 weeks post‐impact. In multiple post‐impact periods, there was an increase in crisis texts for any crisis event, substance use, thoughts of suicide, stress/anxiety, and bereavement. These findings highlight the need for more mental health support for residents directly impacted by co‐occurring disasters. Key Points: This study examines changes in crisis help‐seeking among those exposed to Hurricane Ida in Louisiana, USAIda led to a sustained increase in stress/anxiety, thoughts of suicide, and bereavementFindings support the need for crisis text lines in post‐disaster mental health support and surveillance efforts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although rivers support significant unionid mussel (Unionida: Unionidae) diversity, Gulf of Mexico tributary rivers have been subject to changes in water quality and habitat due to altered watershed land use. We quantified mussel species richness and relative abundance and environmental factors in small tributary streams of the Pearl River, Mississippi-Louisiana. Freshwater mussel and habitat surveys were conducted at 27 stream sampling sites over two summers (9 sites revisited), and coverage of seven land use categories and seven geological categories above each reach were calculated. Mussels were patchily distributed (53% of sites sampled yielded mussels) and typically not abundant (only 26% of sites yielded >10 mussels). Surveys revealed nine species, with total abundance ranging from 0–66 mussels and richness ranging from 0–5 species per site. Assemblages were driven by an upper to lower watershed gradient of decreasing CPUE and richness, with microhabitat and water quality, land cover, and geology locally modifying this gradient. Environmental variables did not seem of sufficient magnitude to account for the patchy distributions and low abundances of mussels at most study sites, and we hypothesize that high discharge events related to tropical storm passage may have exerted an overriding influence on mussel assemblages in these streams through direct mortality and/or altered availability of suitable glochidial hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall as a category 4 hurricane, bringing a torrent of wind, rain, and storm surge to Southeast Louisiana. This hurricane brought several feet of sediment into the residential areas of southeast Louisiana affecting homes and businesses. The sediment contains industrial waste and sewage sludge. A study was conducted to find the presence of antibiotic‐resistant bacteria (ARB) in the sediments. The results of this study show the presence of human polyomavirus BK in the sediments indicating the presence of human feces. The sediment also showed high levels of antibiotics such as tetracycline and sulfonamide. Presence of many multidrug resistant bacteria were found in the sediments along with the presence of various antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) such as sul1 and sul2 for sulfonamide resistant and tetA gene for resistant to tetracycline. The heavy metal analysis revealed an elevated presence of heavy metal contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hurricanes are one of the most devastating earth surface processes. In 2020 and 2021, Hurricanes Zeta and Ida pounded the Mississippi River Delta in two consecutive years, devastated South Louisiana, and raised tremendous concerns for scientists and stakeholders around the world. This study presents a high-resolution spatial-temporal analysis incorporating planialtimetric data acquired via LIDAR, drone, and satellite to investigate the shoreline dynamics near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, the eye of Ida at landfall, before and after the beach nourishment project and recent hurricane landfalls. The remote sensing analysis shows that the volume of the ~2 km studied beachfront was reduced by 240,858 m3 after consecutive landfalls of Hurricanes Zeta and Ida in 2020 and 2021, while 82,915 m3 of overwash fans were transported to the backbarrier areas. Overall, the studied beach front lost almost 40% of its volume in 2019, while the average dune crest height was reduced by over 1 m and the shoreline retreated ~60 m after the two hurricane strikes. Our spatial-temporal dataset suggests that the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority's (CPRA's) beach nourishment effort successfully stabilized the beach barrier at Port Fourchon during the hurricane-quiescent years but was not adequate to protect the shoreline at the Mississippi River Delta from intense hurricane landfalls. Our study supports the conclusion that, in the absence of further human intervention, Bay Champagne will likely disappear completely into the Gulf of Mexico within the next 40 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Tropical cyclones that enter or form in the Gulf of Mexico generate storm surge and large waves that impact low-lying coastlines along the Gulf Coast. The Chandeleur Islands, located 161km east of New Orleans, Louisiana, have endured numerous hurricanes that have passed nearby. Hurricane Katrina (landfall near Waveland MS, 29 Aug 2005) caused dramatic changes to the island elevation and shape. In this paper the predictability of hurricane-induced barrier island erosion and accretion is evaluated using a coupled hydrodynamic and morphodynamic model known as XBeach. Pre- and post-storm island topography was surveyed with an airborne lidar system. Numerical simulations utilized realistic surge and wave conditions determined from larger-scale hydrodynamic models. Simulations included model sensitivity tests with varying grid size and temporal resolutions. Model-predicted bathymetry/topography and post-storm survey data both showed similar patterns of island erosion, such as increased dissection by channels. However, the model under predicted the magnitude of erosion. Potential causes for under prediction include (1) errors in the initial conditions (the initial bathymetry/topography was measured three years prior to Katrina), (2) errors in the forcing conditions (a result of our omission of storms prior to Katrina and/or errors in Katrina storm conditions), and/or (3) physical processes that were omitted from the model (e.g., inclusion of sediment variations and bio-physical processes). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the connections of the main character of the book "The Awakening" and the life of the author Kate Chopin during the Great October Storm, a hurricane that swept the Louisiana coast in 1893. It highlights the effects of the Great October Storm on both the creation and implications of Chopin's book. It also associates individual's life to the life of the main character, who tried to rebuild their lives and understand what lives really mean. It explores how Chopin became a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana and how storms hit her family that forced them to move inland to Cloutierville.

Using stated choice survey data we report on subjects’ perceptions of the risks of hurricanes and intended relocation decisions when faced with such risks. All of the subjects were displaced by either Hurricane Katrina or Rita, in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas in 2005. Results here suggest that subjective perceptions of risk are quite high as compared to scientific estimates of risk, and relocation decisions revealed from a discrete choice experiment are significantly determined by levels of hurricane strike risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The 2005 hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico was the worst in the history of offshore production, with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroying 110 oil and gas structures and eight mobile offshore drilling units. Infrastructure destroyed by accident or natural catastrophe are decommissioned according to the same federal regulations that guide normal decommissioning operations, but depending on the nature of the destruction and the market conditions in the months following the event, special conditions and delays may occur. Historically, offshore infrastructure destroyed by hurricanes or other unusual circumstances have been considered for inclusion in the Louisiana Artificial Reef Program (LARP) under the Special Artificial Reef Site (SARS) category. The purpose of this paper is to review the impact of the 2005 hurricane season on the LARP and the current status of the SARS program. We examine the criteria employed in project evaluation and approval as well as aggregate program statistics. The characteristics and risks associated with decommissioning destroyed infrastructure are also described. At the end of 2006, 10 projects representing 35 platforms destroyed in the 2005 hurricane season have been approved as SARS in the Gulf of Mexico, effectively doubling the number of sites and structures classified as SARS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article reports on the injuries and illness surveillance conducted on September 8 to 25, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. It describes the frequencies of these events during the days after Hurricane Rita and during the repopulation of New Orleans, Louisiana. It was found that using electronic syndromic surveillance system is more sustainable than paper-based active surveillance system.

Studies have quantified the contribution of tropical cyclones (TCs) toward seasonal precipitation, but limited analysis is available on TC contribution toward seasonal streamflow over the southeastern and southcentral (SESC) United States (U.S.). Using an extensive network of hydroclimatic data that consists of 233 TC tracks and daily precipitation and streamflow, we estimate TC contribution toward precipitation and streamflow during the hurricane season over the SESC U.S. We found that TCs account for 12% of seasonal streamflow and 6% of seasonal precipitation over the region. Florida, North Carolina, and Louisiana have the highest fractional occurrence of TC‐generated annual maximum precipitation (∼20%–32%) and streamflow (∼15%–27%). We also found the fractional occurrence of TCs associated with peak‐over threshold precipitation (streamflow) events ranges from 5% to 8% in coastal regions (10%–20% over FL and 5%–10% over coastal NC). Increased antecedent moisture results in increased TCs contribution to streamflow leading to different land‐surface responses for similar hurricane events. Plain Language Summary: While tropical cyclones cause major flooding over coastal areas of the eastern United States (U.S.), they are also an important source of moisture supply. Our analysis shows, on average, TCs contribute 6% of precipitation and 12% of streamflow during the hurricane season over the southeastern and southcentral (SESC) U.S. Our findings also show that TCs play a key role in generating annual extreme precipitation and streamflow over the SESC U.S. Key Points: Tropical cyclones account for 6% of the total seasonal precipitation and 12% of the total seasonal streamflow in the southeastern and southcentral United StatesFlorida, North Carolina, and Louisiana have the highest fractional occurrence of tropical cyclone (TC)‐generated annual maximum precipitation (∼20%–32%) and streamflow (∼15%–27%)Increased antecedent moisture leads to increased TC contribution resulting in increased land‐surface runoff for similar hurricane events [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the course of 16 d in the fall of 1998, Hurricane Georges made landfall on five Caribbean Island nations, two U.S. states, and two territories. Along its path, it impacted nearly every type of built environment and terrestrial and marine ecosystem found in the Caribbean and the southeastern United States. We reviewed ecological and sociological research related to Georges in order to demonstrate the potential power of regional synoptic networks despite notable gaps that existed at the time. Most studies examined various effects and responses within four years of the storm, though a few reported longer‐term results. Reduction in forest stem density was the most reported ecological effect and ranged from 7% to 51% among sites in different forest types. Forests previously impacted by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 showed lower mortality from Georges than forests with longer hurricane‐free intervals. Rivers in the storm's path exported heavy loads of sediment to marine systems. For example, 5–10 million tons of sediment was transported to marine systems from Puerto Rico, and suspended sediments increased tenfold in coastal Louisiana. Economic costs directly related to Hurricane Georges ranged from 5% to 200% of annual GDP in the year after the storm. Sociological research indicated that children and college students exposed to Hurricane Georges experienced elevated effects on mental health such as anxiety and depression for up to 2.5 yr. Established research areas and longitudinal studies were valuable in understanding hurricane effects in the context of long‐term trends but fragmented research capacity reduced both local and regional synthetic efforts. Georges provides a template of how future integrated research programs could provide a deeper understanding of how nature, urbanization, human culture, and societal norms interact, respond, and recover from a major hurricane. However, future studies should avoid using the Saffir‐Simpson scale as a shorthand indicator or predictor of storm effects because topographic, historical, ecological, political, infrastructural, and societal factors interact to alter storm effects. The breadth of topics addressed in the research produced after Georges shows the potential for transformative, regionally synthetic research that spans whole watersheds and nearshore areas while integrating ecological and social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant associations with soil microbiota can modulate tree seedling growth and survival via mutualistic or antagonistic interactions. It is uncertain, however, whether soil microbiota influence seedling growth of coastal trees when exposed to extreme flooding regimes. We evaluated the role of soil microbes in promoting baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) seedling performance under different inundation scenarios and determined the influence of flooding on the colonization of in planta beneficial microbes. Seedlings reared in sterile and non-sterile soil were exposed to three different flooding regimes historically experienced in Louisiana swamps. Seedling growth was assessed, and the colonization by beneficial symbionts such as arbuscular mycorrizhal fungi (AMF), and dark septate endophytes (DSE) was evaluated in harvested roots. Seedlings grown in sterile soil had six times higher growth than seedlings reared in non-sterile soil. As a result, we evaluated pathogen load in the roots by assessing oomycete colonization. Flooding influenced the in planta colonization of DSE and oomycetes, but did not affect the colonization of mutualist AMF fungi. DSE and oomycetes were rarer in flooded conditions, while AMF remained abundant. Seedling biomass production was not correlated with in planta fungal colonization or pathogen load. Soil microbiota can negatively influence baldcypress seedling growth, and no growth benefit was evidenced from the root colonization of mutualist fungi. Flooding can modify baldcypress-fungal interactions by diminishing colonization of DSE. Overall, baldycpress seedlings were more sensitive to the presence of microbiota than flooding, and thus restoration efforts should focus on having a better understanding of plant–microbe interactions in swamps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hurricanes cause extensive harm to local economies, and in some cases the recovery may take years. As an adequate, skilled, and trained workforce is a prerequisite for economic development and capacity building, employment plays an important role in disaster reduction and mitigation efforts. The statistical relationship between hurricane landfalls and observed changes in employment at the county level is investigated. Hurricane impact is classified into temporary and permanent categories. In the former category, the level of economic activities is lowered following a hurricane landfall but quickly recovers to the pre-storm norm. In contrast, the permanent shift alters the mean value of the data and results in lasting losses in future years. The results show that Hurricane Katrina produced significant permanent impact on Orleans County, Louisiana. Chambers and Fort Bend counties experienced a significant temporary impact due to the landfall of Hurricane Ike. The results are further discussed through a qualitative analysis of various social, economic, and engineering factors in these affected communities. The findings support the notion that a higher resilience level leads to quicker recovery after a disaster. However, the underlying data-generating processes are characterized and tested in a more detailed manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Ryu, J.; Bianchette, T.A.; Liu, K.-B.; Yao, Q., and Maiti, K.D., 2018. Palynological and Geochemical Records of Environmental Changes in a Taxodium Swamp near Lake Pontchartrain in Southern Louisiana (USA) during the Last 150 Years. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 381–385. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The hydrological and environmental histories of estuarine wetlands in southern Louisiana are not well-documented. To better understand their local developmental processes, a 59 cm sediment core (WMA-1) was extracted from a bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) swamp located approximately 800 m west of Lake Pontchartrain. This area has been heavily influenced by human activities, and is susceptible to inundation from storm surges from Lake Pontchartrain as well as fluvial and lacustrine processes. 210Pb analysis indicates that WMA-1 has a sedimentation rate of 0.39 cm/year, consistent with the detection of a 137Cs peak at 18 cm depth. Sedimentological and geochemical analyses reveal two distinct sedimentological facies: an organic-rich dark brown peat unit from 0 to 29 cm containing low concentrations of terrestrial elements (e.g., Ti, and Fe), and a clay unit from 29 to 59 cm with elevated concentrations of most elements (e.g., Sr, Cl, Ti, Mn, and Fe). The pollen assemblage in the clay section is dominated by TCT (mainly Taxodium), but it is replaced by Salix and wetland herbaceous taxa in the overlying peat. The Taxodium swamp was present at the site at least 150 years ago, and was replaced by Salix and other bottomland hardwood trees and wetland herbs due to a decrease in water level around AD 1940. While climate may have played a role, this hydrological change was most likely caused by the significant regional human activities during the last 100 years. Two thin clay layers (at 3–5 cm, 14–19 cm) embedded in the upper peat section were likely deposited from hurricanes Isaac (2012) and Betsy (1969): two events responsible for heavy rain and significant storm-surge flooding. Our findings suggest that human activities are capable of altering local wetland hydrology and ecology, while the clay layers represent hurricane-induced floods at the site during the past century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers news briefs related to ecology. Topics include the plan of Louisiana to restore the coast damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in an updated Master Plan published by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), the use of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones to view whale growth and body condition and the impact of overfishing to food culture in Africa.

The article examines the New Orleans, Louisiana rebirth after the Hurricane Katrina and mentions how the city evolved every social structure; government, education, and commerce that had to be rebuilt. Topics discussed include role played by justice administration and lawyers rebuilding of the city; complexity of the problems unmasked by Katrina; and the failure of the infrastructure that was supposed to protect the city.

Like sustainable development, disaster resilience can be conceptualized as a collective surge in science, policy, and practice. The strength of the resilience surge is based on the concept’s usefulness as a boundary object and in particular its resonance with the discourses and practices of neoliberalization, in which the role of the state is diminished and superseded by private–public partnerships and contracts. Current U.S. resilience approaches support particular types of state–society relationships, construct particular kinds of at-risk subjects, and privilege technocratic solutions to disaster vulnerability. Neoliberal disaster risk reduction strategies and their outcomes had a profound impact on post-Katrina recovery in New Orleans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the biggest changes in New Orleans after Katrina was observed in the public school system. In this article, we describe the massive overhaul of the public school system in New Orleans post-Katrina and examine the types of problems that this type of decentralized market-oriented system will be most likely to solve as well as those it may struggle with. As examples, we use problems facing New Orleans public schools, namely, student discipline, information sharing with parents, and especially the human capital pipeline, to illustrate the challenges a regulated market system presents. We then present and apply to those cases a general framework for thinking about which of these types of problems a decentralized system will be best able to solve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this article is to share results of an examination of cases of institutional and structural violations of human rights stemming from various types of corruption, especially in their expression in the later stages of recovery and reconstruction in post-Katrina New Orleans. Utilizing the United Nations definitions of human rights and corruption, our 10-year review finds that a wide variety of disaster-related human rights violations and corruption can be identified in all phases of the disaster. These cases range from failure to plan/implement an adequate response to the impending danger of the hurricanes to failure to protect the public from inadequate products/services to enacting everyday public policies enabling discriminatory practices and denial of human rights to failure to shield the public from official corruption that has continued to prey on disaster victims. Based on our analysis, we recommend ways of safeguarding human rights, including the right to be free from corruption and reducing disaster risks, particularly for the most vulnerable populations in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While prosocial behavior is widely observable after disaster, there is undeniable evidence that antisocial behavior also occurs in the immediate and longer term aftermath of disaster. We begin by examining the crime that occurred in New Orleans in the immediate wake of Katrina and the circumstances that facilitated it. We also take a longer term look at one of New Orleans’ most intractable crime problems, that of murder. We explore Katrina’s direct and indirect effect on murder rates in New Orleans, including innovative law enforcement responses to this crime. We conclude with a discussion of policies and practices relevant to reducing crime in the immediate and longer term wake of disaster that incorporate law enforcement and other initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hurricane Katrina created a catastrophe in the City of New Orleans when the storm surge caused the levee system to fail on August 29, 2005. The destruction of housing displaced hundreds of thousands of residents for varying lengths of time, often permanently. It also revealed gaps in our knowledge of how population is recovered after a disaster causes widespread destruction of urban infrastructure and housing. In this article, I identify social, spatial, and temporal explanatory frameworks for housing and population recovery and use them to review research findings on mobility—both evacuation and migration—after Hurricane Katrina. The review reveals a need for a comprehensive social, spatial, and temporal framework for explaining inequality in population displacement and recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]