Here’s a fun drinking game: Turn on the TV after any major disaster in New Orleans and take a shot every time you hear a city, state or federal official say the word resilient.
Actually, don’t do that. Please don’t do that. You may not survive.
New Orleanians are often praised — or patronized, depending on how you look at it — for their resiliency. But while this is true, I think I speak for many when I say I’d rather have functioning and resilient infrastructure and affordable housing more than praise for my own personal resiliency. Because, the truth is, it’s getting harder and harder to live here.
A recent report from the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research group that focuses on social and economic policy, found that while there have been some infrastructure improvements that have lessened the overall exposures to dangers like flooding since Hurricane Katrina, much of this protection is not equitably distributed. Like so many other issues in the city, storm protection is divided along racial and ethnic lines.
And though there’s been a lot of growth in home retrofit services and providers, as well as financial incentives to make homes more hurricane-resilient, the report found that “home mitigation remained largely untapped in the region.” Unsurprisingly, the ability to pay for this mitigation was the deciding factor.
It’s August in Louisiana — which means heat and hurricanes. And unfortunately, because of climate change, both are getting worse. That’s why now it’s more important than ever for the city’s housing stock to be more resilient — and at the same time, more affordable and accessible for those who need it most.
Let’s take a quick second to look at what makes a home more hurricane resilient. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is an independent nonprofit that has spent decades studying the damage caused by severe weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes, identifying weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your average American home.
The group then built a full-scale research center — the only one in the world — and spent a few more years testing different ways to make a home more resilient. With that research and science, IBHS put out the “FORTIFIED” construction method.
“There are three levels of Fortified ratings that IBHS has established: Fortified Roof, Fortified Silver, Fortified Gold,” explained Bradley Holland, director of construction at New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. He used a home Habitat built in Jean Lafitte after Hurricane Ida as an example. The organization partnered with the Auburn University Rural Studios Design-Build program to build homes that were EnergyStar certified in efficiency and Fortified Gold in structural strength.
“This classification meets a whole house system of design, from the foundation to the finish,” Holland said.
The homes have metal hurricane straps, nailing and other materials that will withstand 130-150 mph winds. Each framing piece of the structure is strapped and secured to the last. There are impact-resistant windows that can withstand high-velocity projectiles, as well as impact-rated doors. The roofing system has plywood nailed at every 4 inches with galvanized, full headed, ring shank nails.
There’s special tape on the seams of the plywood in case the underlayment — traditional tar paper — should fail, and a new synthetic underlayment that is nailed at specified locations. On top of that, any shingles or metal used are rated to withstand high winds and securely installed. The whole construction process is documented by a third-party inspector with photographic, as well as time- and location-stamped evidence that is submitted to a panel for review.
Holland said that the main challenge for building hurricane-resilient homes is the cost, but you don’t have to necessarily break the bank to make your home safer.
“Most costs for upgrading to more resilient homes are not substantial,” he noted. “An increase of nails and straps or engineering is not painful. The highest cost increase would be in supplying impact-resistant doors and windows.”
One of the biggest motivators for upgrading homes to be more resilient is that it could help lower home insurance costs.
But let’s be real about it — we’re in a full-blown insurance crisis. In fact, skyrocketing insurance premiums have threatened people who live in homes they purchased through Habitat for Humanity with foreclosure.
It’s critical that hurricane-resilient measures be accessible and affordable for the most vulnerable people in the city, but it’s not enough to focus on just making individual homes more resilient.
“The bricks and mortar of the individual units are probably the first thing that’s going to be a predictor of how safe and secure families are as they experience climate impacts. So physical changes to the housing unit, like elevation, like weatherization, energy efficiency upgrades, can all help to keep people safe at home,” said Sara McTarnaghan, co-lead principal research associate on climate and communities practice area at the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that conducts economic and social policy research. “But what I think is important not to lose from the conversation is that it doesn’t start and stop there, even though that’s where so much of the focus is. We need to zoom out into both our land use and development patterns, our building codes, land use codes, as well as the kind of infrastructure that we put in communities.”
McTarnaghan said it’s also important to include the community in the decision-making process.
“This piece of the conversation is so often missing as we focus on the buildings and not the people, but it’s really important,” she said. That involvement can look like community advisory boards that include culture bearers and community members who have their finger on the pulse of the needs and interests of the community. Those boards can then be used to guide project development, tailor local programs and support some of the outreach.
As climate change exacerbates the frequency and severity of hurricanes, the need for hurricane-resilient housing has never been greater. It’s clear that while strides have been made in infrastructure improvements and home retrofit services, these measures are not yet widespread or equitably distributed.
Building for the future in Louisiana requires a comprehensive approach that combines physical resilience with community engagement and equity. Only then can we create a city that not only withstands the challenges of today but also thrives in the face of tomorrow’s uncertainties.
Drew Hawkins is a writer and journalist in New Orleans. He’s the health equity reporter in the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration among public radio stations in Louisiana (WWNO and WRKF), Alabama (WBHM) and Mississippi (MPB-Mississippi Public Broadcasting) and NPR. He’s also the producer and host of Micro, a LitHub podcast for short but powerful writing.
