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New Orleans' worst blighted properties, according to the city

Plaza Tower, Lindy Boggs and Canal Street Hotel topped the list.

News

Where to eat for Hanukkah in New Orleans

Holidays

Your guide to Christmas and holiday events in New Orleans

We go big with special meals, picture-perfect hotel lobbies, giant menorahs and bonfires.

10+ New Orleans Christmas parades and light shows

Celebration in the Oaks, a boat parade, creepy Krampus  and more.

Louisiana secures $250M for microgrids

The state experiences more than 12 times the average number of power outages nationally.

Climate

Louisiana snagged $250 million from the Biden administration to create a community-driven energy plan and &quot;resilience hubs&quot; as part of a national grid strengthening initiative.Why it matters: Louisiana&#x27;s electric customers experience <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="more than 12 times" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/08/29/power-outages-disparities-generators" data-vars-content-id="5ca868e7-a6e0-473e-9336-0bff2c511922" data-vars-headline="Louisiana secures $250M for microgrids" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/08/29/power-outages-disparities-generators" target="_self">more than 12 times</a> the total power outages than the national average.

Illustration of a cube with a glowing power bolt.

When New Orleans can expect the first frost of the season

Another cold front is on the way, but it will likely be several more weeks before it freezes.

Another cold front is on the way for <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="New Orleans" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans" data-vars-content-id="e16befa0-e744-458d-9810-b986b2892708" data-vars-headline="When New Orleans can expect the first frost of the season" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans" target="_self">New Orleans</a>, but it will likely be several more weeks before the first frost of the season.Driving the news: The National Weather Service in Slidell says a cold front could arrive Monday, dropping highs from the 80s into the 60s and 70s for the week.<ul><li>Overnight lows in the 50s are possible on the south shore.</li></ul>Zoom out: Our first frost isn&#x27;t expected until December.

Image shows a map of the United States color-coded to indicate the median date of the first frost

Tropical system in Gulf to bring needed rain to New Orleans metro

Louisiana is in an extreme drought, and forecasters are welcoming the system.

A <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="tropical disturbance" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/05/31/noaa-hurricane-season-outlook-new-orleans-2023" data-vars-content-id="b5fc02ff-8f37-4e1b-b85e-82c56694eaf7" data-vars-headline="Tropical system in Gulf to bring needed rain to New Orleans metro" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/05/31/noaa-hurricane-season-outlook-new-orleans-2023" target="_self">tropical disturbance</a> in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to bring several inches of rain to the New Orleans metro region on Wednesday and Thursday.Why it matters: Louisiana is in an <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="extreme drought" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/08/30/louisiana-wildfires-drought" data-vars-content-id="b5fc02ff-8f37-4e1b-b85e-82c56694eaf7" data-vars-headline="Tropical system in Gulf to bring needed rain to New Orleans metro" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/08/30/louisiana-wildfires-drought" target="_self">extreme drought</a>, and forecasters are welcoming the system, which is not expected to strengthen into a named storm.

Officials look to permanent solutions after intrusion situation improves

Much of the metro is out of the woods, but officials are mulling solutions.

Local and federal officials are focusing on permanent solutions for <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="saltwater intrusion" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/10/02/new-orleans-saltwater-intrusion-questions" data-vars-content-id="1056b5b1-82eb-4c50-9398-893907d5466c" data-vars-headline="Officials look to permanent solutions after intrusion situation improves" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/10/02/new-orleans-saltwater-intrusion-questions" target="_self">saltwater intrusion</a> after the Army Corps of Engineers said last week much of the greater <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="New Orleans" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans" data-vars-content-id="1056b5b1-82eb-4c50-9398-893907d5466c" data-vars-headline="Officials look to permanent solutions after intrusion situation improves" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans" target="_self">New Orleans</a> region would escape the worst of the immediate threat.Why it matters: Officials expect the region&#x27;s local water supplies to face intrusion again in the future with ongoing climate change and manmade Mississippi River alterations <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="like dredging" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nola.com/news/environment/corps-long-knew-river-dredging-would-trigger-water-crisis/article_76c28910-6483-11ee-a6e0-af56a4538a58.html" data-vars-content-id="1056b5b1-82eb-4c50-9398-893907d5466c" data-vars-headline="Officials look to permanent solutions after intrusion situation improves" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nola.com/news/environment/corps-long-knew-river-dredging-would-trigger-water-crisis/article_76c28910-6483-11ee-a6e0-af56a4538a58.html" target="_blank">like dredging</a>.

Rows of flexible pipeline are laid on the batture. Construction equipment waits nearby.

How the Houma preserve a climate change-threatened tradition

The cultural traditions of the Houma people, who are native to southeast Louisiana, are under threat by climate change.

A Houma woman is working to ensure her ancestors&#x27; basket-weaving traditions are passed on, one basket at a time.Why it matters: The cultural traditions of the Houma people, who are native to southeast Louisiana, are under threat by climate change as rising water and worsening weather patterns prompt retreat from the coastal lands they&#x27;ve long called home.

Several people gather around a large white table to weave baskets together. Janie Luster is seen at right.

How NOLA Public Schools is prepping for possible salt impact

If needed, school officials will cover water fountains, purchase heat-and-eat meals and distribute bottled water for students and staff.

NOLA Public Schools officials are working on plans to keep running &quot;business as usual&quot; should salt water impact the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="New Orleans" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans" data-vars-content-id="476a3dcc-03e9-4a73-96ae-2a4d4b262654" data-vars-headline="How NOLA Public Schools is prepping for possible salt impact" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans" target="_self">New Orleans</a>-area water supply.The big picture: The system is responsible for 43,000 students.

NOLA Public Schools superintendent Avis Williams speaks at a podium.

New Orleans pipeline bids in review as salt water nears

Approved plans for the Carrollton and East Jefferson water treatment plants call for 10 to 15 miles of piping.

Construction bids are under review in <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="New Orleans" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans" data-vars-content-id="1671409a-7ca2-41cc-8044-ad06cc276e83" data-vars-headline="New Orleans pipeline bids in review as salt water nears" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans" target="_self">New Orleans</a> after officials approved plans to pipe in water from further upriver along the Mississippi.Why it matters: Every day counts as the city races to line up strategies for coping with saltwater intrusion that&#x27;s expected at New Orleans water treatment plant intakes by Oct. 22.

Atlantic hurricane season set record, but it was boring in Louisiana

Only one hurricane made landfall in the U.S.

The <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Atlantic hurricane season" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/05/31/noaa-hurricane-season-outlook-new-orleans-2023" data-vars-content-id="b21c3532-792b-44e7-a563-275c8e63628f" data-vars-headline="Atlantic hurricane season set record, but it was boring in Louisiana" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/05/31/noaa-hurricane-season-outlook-new-orleans-2023" target="_self">Atlantic hurricane season</a> ends today, and Louisiana thankfully had another quiet year.Why it matters: Louisiana is still recovering from <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="catastrophic hurricane" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2021/08/30/photos-hurricane-ida-louisiana-mississippi" data-vars-content-id="b21c3532-792b-44e7-a563-275c8e63628f" data-vars-headline="Atlantic hurricane season set record, but it was boring in Louisiana" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2021/08/30/photos-hurricane-ida-louisiana-mississippi" target="_self">catastrophic hurricane</a> seasons in 2020 and 2021.

Illustration of hurricane street sign with a cancel bar

New Orleans is 20 inches below average rainfall so far this year

New Orleans and other places south of Interstate 10 have had well below-average rainfall for this time of year, according to the National Weather Service in Slidell.Meanwhile, places north of I-10, like Baton Rouge, have received a lot more rain and are almost on par with the average annual rainfall.

Illustration of an umbrella collecting cobwebs. 

LSU Litter Institute to take on Louisiana's trash

Louisiana spends more than $91 million on managing trash on the state's roads each year.

Gov. John Bel Edwards recently formed the new <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="LSU Litter Institute" data-vars-click-url="https://www.lsu.edu/scholarship-first/blog/2023/11/01-litter-institute.php" data-vars-content-id="a199f544-3076-4c66-b5f8-0171e8ae7ef2" data-vars-headline="LSU Litter Institute to take on Louisiana&#x27;s trash" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.lsu.edu/scholarship-first/blog/2023/11/01-litter-institute.php" target="_blank">LSU Litter Institute</a>, which will support abatement projects and craft new solutions to the state&#x27;s trashiest problem.Why it matters: Louisiana&#x27;s location at the mouth of the Mississippi River means waterborne garbage from nearly half the country ends up here.

Illustration of a pattern of trash bags; one is golden.

Southeast Louisiana gets new planting zones in USDA hardiness map

It's the first hardiness map published in more than a decade.

Gardeners in southeast <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Louisiana" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans" data-vars-content-id="a2345e7c-5621-4b18-8e29-89525b7dc68c" data-vars-headline="Southeast Louisiana gets new planting zones in USDA hardiness map" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans" target="_self">Louisiana</a> can successfully grow more tropical plants due to warming temperatures, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture map released last month.Why it matters: The <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Plant Hardiness Zone Map" data-vars-click-url="https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/" data-vars-content-id="a2345e7c-5621-4b18-8e29-89525b7dc68c" data-vars-headline="Southeast Louisiana gets new planting zones in USDA hardiness map" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/" target="_blank">Plant Hardiness Zone Map</a> is a kind of bible for farmers and gardeners, helping them understand which plants can thrive in their area — and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="when to plant them" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/17/2023-plant-hardiness-map" data-vars-content-id="a2345e7c-5621-4b18-8e29-89525b7dc68c" data-vars-headline="Southeast Louisiana gets new planting zones in USDA hardiness map" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/17/2023-plant-hardiness-map" target="_self">when to plant them</a>.<ul><li>It&#x27;s the first hardiness map published in more than a decade.</li><li>The new zones are particularly significant for those already growing plants at the extreme edge of their suggested range.</li></ul>

Louisiana had the worst natural disaster displacement in the country last year

8.3% of Louisianas said they were displaced in 2022. Nationwide, the average is 1.6%.

Louisiana had the biggest percentage of people who said they were displaced last year because of a natural disaster, per the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.<ul><li>8.3% of Louisianans said they were displaced in 2022. Nationwide, the average is 1.6%.</li></ul>Why it matters: Not being able to live in your own home takes a mental and financial toll.

Graphic shows a map of the U.S. with Louisiana having the highest share of people who say they were displaced in the last year because of a natural disaster.

Climate 🌿