How New Orleans is transforming its hurricane plans because of climate change
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As New Orleans prepared for Hurricane Francine's Louisiana landfall last week, the city's top emergency official called the storm "a wet dry run" for its newest iteration of storm planning.
Why it matters: Climate change is rapidly transforming our expectations for hurricane season, so the city's preparations for how it deals with storms have to change, too.
The big picture: Hurricanes are getting stronger and faster, which means evacuation ahead of them is becoming harder and harder to do.
- But memories after Hurricane Katrina of people left on rooftops and the Superdome and Convention Center crowded with hungry, thirsty people in need of medical care are a grim reminder of how badly things can go wrong when the right plans aren't in place and there aren't enough resources to make sure they work anyway.
Zoom in: As New Orleans changes how it prepares for storms, officials are knitting together a shelter plan that allows the city to level up or down what it provides depending on the intensity of resident needs in an emergency, says New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness director Collin Arnold.
- Part of that plan was put into action during Hurricane Ida and again Francine as officials activated what it calls emergency resource centers.
- Those centers, primarily based in NORDC facilities, along with Together New Orleans' Community Lighthouses, offer air conditioning to cool off and a place to charge phones and medical devices. They could easily serve as distribution spots for water and food if needed, too.
- "It takes an enormous amount of pressure off," Arnold tells Axios New Orleans of the strategy. "Do we really have to open full-blown shelters for a lower-level storm like this? I think the answer is, no, we don't."
Yes, but: The resource centers probably wouldn't cut it for a major Category 4 or 5 storm, Arnold says, especially if it moves too quickly to enact a citywide evacuation.
- For that, the city is finalizing details on its plan to use the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center as a shelter.
- Getting that plan finished "is our top priority," Arnold says.
Between the lines: If Hurricane Francine had turned into a big one, Arnold says, and they needed to make it work, the Convention Center plan could have come together.
- The missing piece, Arnold says, is personnel.
- With city staff, the Convention Center plan today would work for 2,500 to 5,000 evacuees, he says. But to really replace a citywide evacuation, the plan would need to be ready for around 20,000 people.
- "To do that, I'll need more help from other partners," Arnold says.
Go deeper: Tracking the 2024 hurricane season