Read on Twitter
When I began reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Laura in August, just days after the storm made landfall, I started to hear a common refrain from residents of southwest Louisiana: The world has forgotten about us.
Laura was the strongest hurricane to hit the state in over a century, but national outlets stopped covering what happened in Lake Charles and surrounding areas after only a few days. SWLA is also a news desert, which meant there were large holes in local coverage, too.
I made it my purpose to try to fill some of those gaps in my role at @southerlymag. Since August, I've reported on how the immediate response to Laura looked different than normal because of the pandemic: https://southerlymag.org/2020/09/04/this-is-what-hurricane-response-looks-like-during-a-pandemic/
I wrote about how this highly active hurricane season caused hazardous spills across much of the Gulf Coast: https://southerlymag.org/2020/09/29/toxic-spills-pollutants-threaten-gulf-coast-communities-after-hurricanes-pass/
More recently, with a grant from the @pulitzercenter , I've been able to make the 200-mile trek from New Orleans to Lake Charles along with talented photographer Katie Sikora --
which has allowed me to cover the challenges facing Lake Charles voters after back-to-back hurricanes: https://southerlymag.org/2020/10/21/after-hurricanes-its-harder-than-ever-for-lake-charles-black-residents-to-cast-a-ballot/
& the many hurdles displaced teachers face as they return to school: https://southerlymag.org/2020/12/17/theyre-so-weary-louisiana-teachers-recover-from-back-to-back-hurricanes-during-the-pandemic/
Last year, donations from NewsMatch made my position at Southerly possible: We raised over $20,000 from readers. There are still a few more days to get your donation doubled. If you find value in this work, become a member! https://southerlymag.org/donate/
