Friend, twenty years ago tomorrow, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Louisiana coastline. The storm devastated our state and communities across the Gulf Coast.

Here in New Orleans, all of us who lived here in 2005 remember the horror of the more than 50 breached levees, which failed to protect our city. Too many of us lost our family and friends. We lost our homes, churches, and schools. We lost pieces of our life that we can never get back.

Twenty years later we cannot forget how "leaders" failed the Black and low-income families in places that were most deeply harmed.

But, we remember how we took care of one another. We made sure that no one was left alone. We came together to stand up as one New Orleans. Two decades later, we're still working to rebuild and reclaim our home.

"When I was a kid, living in Southeast Louisiana, climate change made its greatest impression on me. I listened to the radio while my family and friends waited for hours in traffic to escape New Orleans, St. Bernard parish, and other parishes before Katrina landed. Some returned and live a better life now in New Orleans. Some moved on to other places. I now live in New Orleans, and it is home for me, my husband, our dog, and community. We live with a full understanding that our life is precarious, especially as federal agencies like FEMA and the Army Corps are gutted and as national officials deny the reality of climate change." - Angelle Bradford Rosenberg, Delta (Louisiana) Chapter Chair

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina became a blueprint for how crisis points can be exploited by those seeking power and greed. And we're seeing those ripples in the current exploitation of climate disasters and rise in authoritarianism. But it can also be a blueprint of how, together, through the sheer force of will and community, we can build something better when the worst happens.

Right now, the Trump administration is trying to take away the few essential programs, resources, and staff that help us prepare, respond, and recover from hurricanes and other unnatural disasters.

Will you join me to protect our families by advocating for continued and increased disaster relief investment?
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Protect Disaster Relief
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While far from perfect, governmental programs like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including the National Weather Service (NWS), play a critical role in keeping our communities safe by coordinating essential information between weather forecasters, emergency managers, and the public.

As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, we should be investing in disaster preparedness and response, not dismantling it. We must do better than 20 years ago after Katrina.

And the majority of Americans agree -- 79 percent of US adults are more concerned about our government's ability to respond to climate disasters if FEMA and NOAA services are cut.

We need your help to pressure the administration to stop axing critical weather prediction and disaster aid programs. Will you join us in fighting for stronger protections?
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Our movement for environmental justice must honor the lessons from Hurricane Katrina and the past two decades. Together, we can continue to build our own maps and blueprints for liberation, governance, and people-centered infrastructure over the next 20 years and beyond.

We will take care of one another.

Thank you
Sierra Club Delta (Louisiana) Chapter

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