My reporting on disaster recovery in southwest Louisiana:

Since August 2020, I've been covering the aftermath of Hurricane Laura for Southerly. Three of these stories were supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center's Connected Coastlines Project, and several have been re-published by local and national outlets, which I've noted below.

Do you live in southwest Louisiana and have ideas for issues I ought to cover there? Fill out this tip form and I'll get in touch.

Me interviewing Lisa Morgan in Lafayette, La in December 2020. Photo by Katie Sikora.

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This is what hurricane response looks like during a pandemic (9/4/2020)

Toxic spills, pollutants threaten Gulf Coast communities after hurricanes pass (9/29/2020)

After hurricanes, it’s harder than ever for Lake Charles’ Black residents to cast a ballot (10/21/2020)

Supported by Pulitzer Center; re-published by The Current and Louisiana Illuminator.

Opposite: early voting in Lake Charles. Photo by Katie Sikora.

‘They’re so weary’: Louisiana teachers recover from back-to-back hurricanes during the pandemic (12/17/2020)

Supported by Pulitzer Center; co-published with The Hechinger Report; re-published by Louisiana Illuminator.

Opposite: Lisa Morgan, a high school teacher in Lake Charles.

Photo by Katie Sikora.

‘It’s just a vicious cycle’: Evictions, homelessness surge in southwest Louisiana after hurricanes (2/17/2021)

Supported by Pulitzer Center; re-published by The Current and Louisiana Illuminator.

Opposite: Sasha Miller, a single mother in Lake Charles who became unhoused as a result of the hurricanes. Photo by Katie Sikora.

Field Notes: How we reported our series on Hurricane Laura recovery (3/22/2021)

Photo by Katie Sikora.

How southwest Louisiana mobilized to shelter unhoused people during the winter storm (2/26/2021)

The population of Lake Charles, La. shrank more than any U.S. city in 2020 (4/20/2021)

The slow road to getting vaccinated after back-to-back hurricanes (5/5/2021) Co-published with The Current.

‘People are wiped out’: Costs pile up as hurricane season begins (6/23/21) Co-reported and co-published with the Texas Observer

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Dispatches as Southerly's Gulf Coast Correspondent:

‘Hurricane fatigue’: Gulf Coast emergency managers still rebuilding as they prep for more storms

The multibillion dollar question: What will it take to fix the South’s broken water systems?

Nobody warned Texans about the public health risks of the winter storm, co-reported & co-published with the Texas Observer

The key environmental policy priorities for the South, according to experts

How faith leaders organized to win two major environmental victories in Louisiana, co-reported with Sara Sneath

Lessons from Hurricane Katrina: A Q&A with General Honoré

This coastal Mississippi city plagued by environmental hazards has a history of police violence

‘It’s a movement’: Generations of Gulf Coast residents protest police violence, racism

Photos: New Orleans sanitation workers strike for protections and better pay

Struggling Florida Panhandle towns face tough reopening decisions

Coal ash pond remains on Alabama coast despite pollution, hurricane risk

Emergency managers work nonstop to prepare communities for hurricanes during pandemic

At ‘ground zero’ of BP spill, Louisiana community confronts new oil and gas project

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Misc. Journalism:

‘We don’t want to die here.’ Detained immigrants protest amid pandemic, Scalawag Magazine

How Louisiana's oil and gas industry uses prison labor, Powerlines Project (co-published by Scalawag Magazine, Southerly Magazine, and the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University).

Neighbors helping neighbors: a list of coronavirus mutual aid efforts in the South, Scalawag Magazine

High stakes for the climate in Louisiana elections, Scalawag Magazine

Medical neglect, illegal detention, and retaliation in ICE's Deep South stronghold, Scalawag Magazine

20,000 AT&T workers in the South went on strike--and won, Scalawag Magazine

Winning labor rights in the South means changing state laws, Scalawag Magazine

How communities are fighting to save New Orleans from an Airbnb takeover, Scalawag Magazine

Old Bridge, New Cliques, Down East Magazine

The South's Ellis Island, The Bitter Southerner, featured in the The Bitter Southerner Reader: Volume 4

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Essays:

The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, 64 Parishes, Summer 2021 issue

At the new Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, seder plates and slave receipts, The Forward