Nearly a year after Hurricane Ida unleashed 150 mile-per-hour winds on southeast Louisiana, a housing crisis, coastal erosion, halting government response, and systemic discrimination has exacerbated the storm’s damage. “It feels like a ghost town,” Precious Shephard told PBS in describing her community now. “[I’m] running a generator, not being able to store food the way I used to, eating fast food daily, it’s like I’m still living in a storm.”

The region is home to many Native American tribes, who moved to the bayous when colonizers forced them from their land. But the land, trees and marsh grass that protected these communities from storm surges has eroded, and climate change threatens to bring more and stronger hurricanes to the area. The tribes most impacted by Hurricane Ida are engaged in a lengthy, decade-slong process seeking federal recognition, which tribal officials say would improve their access to government programs and federal funds to prepare for hurricanes. (AP, PBS)