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Articles on New Orleans

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Outages left downtown New Orleans in the dark after Hurricane Ida made landfall on Aug. 29, 2021. Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Can burying power lines protect storm-wracked electric grids? Not always

Hurricane Ida left the entire city of New Orleans in the dark and renewed discussion of burying power lines. But there’s no way to completely protect the grid, above ground or below.
Mural at Rockaway Brewing Company in Long Island City, Queens, New York, a longtime industrial and transportation hub that now is rapidly redeveloping. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

What lies beneath: To manage toxic contamination in cities, study their industrial histories

Many homes, parks and businesses in US cities stand on former manufacturing sites that may have left legacy hazardous wastes behind. A new book calls for more research into our urban industrial past.
A woman gets back into her flooded car on the Toronto Indy course on Lakeshore Boulevard in Toronto on July 8, 2013. Housing developers are building housing on known flood plains in cities around the world. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Building housing on flood plains another sign of growing inequality

Cities around the world, including Toronto, are building housing on flood plains knowing the risks in the era of climate change. Here’s why that will contribute to growing inequality in our cities.
After Haiti signed its Declaration of Independence from France, in 1804, the U.S. started a nearly 60-year political and economic embargo that hobbled the young nation’s growth. Wikimedia

Donald Trump doesn’t understand Haiti, immigration or American history

Trump’s anti-Haitian rhetoric ignores a long pattern of migration from Haiti to the U.S., often driven by American meddling in Haitian affairs. Today, the two nations are irrevocably bound by history.
Interstate 69 in Humble, Texas is covered by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017. AP Photo/David J. Phillip

After Harvey, many Texans will think differently about hurricane risks

Many people may have stayed put during Hurricane Harvey because no storm that big had struck Texas since 1961. But like New Orleans after Katrina, Texas is likely to be much better prepared next time.

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