Out of many, one people. Kimisha Simpson says she’s confident that Jamaica’s national motto will rally the diaspora and others to help rebuild the island that was battered by Hurricane Melissa earlier this week. “We like to say, ‘We’re the heartbeat of the Caribbean,’” Simpson said. “Jamaica is an island that has given so much […]
Extreme Weather
Posted inExtreme Weather
Hurricane Melissa Batters Jamaica With Strongest Hurricane Winds in 90 Years
Hurricane Melissa is hammering Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, bringing 185 mph winds. This is the strongest hurricane wind speed to make landfall in 90 years, threatening to cause catastrophic floods, landslides, and a sea surge up to 13 feet along the island’s southern coast. The relatively slow speed of the monster storm will […]
Posted inExtreme Weather, Money, Wealth Gap
Climate Disasters Are Destroying Black Retirements and the American Dream
Standing in front of the Pasadena, California, City Council in June, Totress Beasley begged for support. After being displaced twice — after previous landlords sold the rental properties she called home — she explained how she thought she should put her life in her own hands and buy her own house. For five years, through the Great Recession, the […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Extreme Weather
Pollution is Driving Climate Disasters And The Government Plans to Stop Tracking it
Homes in Jefferson County, Texas, still bear the scars of Hurricane Harvey: black and blue tarps cling to rooftops. Families in historically Black neighborhoods navigate a slow, unequal recovery from the 2017 storm, and in 2022, the federal government found that the state discriminated against Black and Hispanic residents when doling out flood mitigation funds. […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather, Politics & Policy
How a $5 Billion Federal Project Could Sink the Lower Ninth Ward Forever
Willie Calhoun knows how to live with water. His home, cradled between the Mississippi River and a patchwork of canals, is split by the surging, ever-present current. But it wasn’t always that way in the Ninth Ward. Before the largest canal known as the Industrial Canal was built, the stretch of land between the river […]
Posted inExtreme Weather, Partner Content, Uncategorized
What Was Lost: Neighborhood Sounds After Hurricane Katrina
As part of Capital B’s coverage of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina later this month, we’re proud to present “What Was Lost,” a series of reflections by Louisianans who survived the storm, produced by our collaborators at Verite News. When I snuck into New Orleans after Katrina, the city was absent of sound. Not […]
Posted inExtreme Weather, Partner Content
Her Mother Died Just Before Katrina. In the Storm’s Wake, Grief Had No Room.
As part of Capital B’s coverage of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina later this month, we’re proud to present “What Was Lost,” a series of reflections by Louisianans who survived the storm, produced by our collaborators at Verite News. The death of her mother — a heart attack, sudden — took Selarstean Mitchell by […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather, Mental Health, Partner Content
What Was Lost: Stories From Hurricane Katrina
As part of Capital B’s coverage of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina later this month, we’re proud to present “What Was Lost,” a series of reflections by Louisianans who survived the storm, produced by our collaborators at Verite News. NEW ORLEANS — Growing up, holidays were a lot of fun because we had really huge family […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather, Mental Health, Partner Content
What Was Lost: Stories From Hurricane Katrina
As part of Capital B’s coverage of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina later this month, we’re proud to present “What Was Lost,” a series of reflections by Louisianans who survived the storm, produced by our collaborators at Verite News. New Orleans — Ten years before Katrina, my wife, Phyllis, and I were house shopping. […]
Posted inClimate Change, Environmental Justice, Extreme Weather, Housing, Mental Health
20 Years After Katrina, Louisiana Residents Are Most Vulnerable to ‘Die of Despair’
This is the fourth story in our series chronicling the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Trigger warning: This article contains descriptions of suicide, gun violence, and child deaths that may be distressing to some readers. As the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approached in 2015, Michelle McCullum, a 25-year-old mother of two, drove her children, […]
