Louisiana

French-speaking Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, has abandoned dwellings are everywhere due to storms, erosion, and rising sea-levels.

Storms and rising sea levels threaten to wipe out French language in Louisiana’s bayou country

Language

Rising sea levels, erosion and storms in Louisiana’s bayou country have flooded entire communities. For some French speakers, Hurricane Ida was the last straw — and many are now moving away.

Four Black American women activists wearing yellow shirts and holding protest signs stand in a field near a fence.

From Louisiana to Taiwan, environmental activists stand up to a major plastics company

Conflict & Justice
Man at dinner table, surrounded by people

Yes, they came as refugees, but on ‘Queen Sugar’ this family from Vietnam gets to be so much more

Culture

Willie Nelson

Arts, Culture & Media
Atchafalaya bayou

Federal judge halts Louisiana pipeline

Environment
The silhouette of roseau cane during a sunset on the Louisiana coast.

In a hungry little insect, a big threat to Louisiana’s coast

Science

A tiny invasive bug loves the cane that grows along the mouth of the Mississippi River. Can it be stopped?

Pecan Acres

Frequent flooding in Louisiana could lead to buyouts for entire neighborhoods

Economics

“Let us all come together so we can go as one and move another place instead of flooding out every year because we’re getting older,” says one resident of Pecan Acres, in Pointe Coupee Parish. “We’ll be better off. We won’t got to worry about worrying when the storms come.”

Birth certificate

Why some immigrants and refugees in Louisiana are having trouble getting married

Justice

A new law in Louisiana that adds new requirements to process marriage licenses is being challenged for discrimination against refugees and immigrants.

Oil lease arrests

Gulf of Mexico oil leases spark protests, but little revenue

Environment

Citizen activists tried to stop the government’s recent auction of 4,400 oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico. They failed, but the auction brought in less revenue than expected.

Louisiana floods — and music

Music is holding Louisiana together in tough times

Music

Songs have been written about Louisiana’s great flood of 1927, and about Katrina. As the state is inundated anew, music plays a role in bringing communities together.Songs have been written about Louisiana’s great flood of 1927, and about Katrina. As the state is inundated anew, music plays a role in bringing communities together.