They are all typically one-story homes that get raised many feet above the ground. A usual basement turns into open air and elevators are sometimes attached for transportation of items.

The stilt homes serve a big purpose in coastal states like Louisiana: safety from expected coastal flooding, especially during hurricane season.

Cookie Naquin is a resident on the sinking island of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana. She lives in her one-story stilt home with her partner and grandchildren. It’s like any other American home – besides the fact it’s raised 13 feet above the island ground.

Cookie has lived on the island for over 50 years and home she resides in now was originally her parents’ home. It’s one of the houses on the island that started off on the ground, then was built up. A lot of homes in the area were raised in 2005, according to Naquin.

“Homes here started on the ground,” said Cookie. “But many had to be raised after Hurricane Rita.”

But her home wasn’t stilted until 2009 when her family got a loan from The Road Home, a federal program set up to help Louisiana residents after the damage done by Hurricane Katrina and Rita. The program has completed all rebuilding initiatives and is closed, according to the organization’s website.

The home was lifted off the ground and raised 13 feet, but with each storm the waters keep getting higher and higher, according to Cookie.

Living just next door to Cookie is her relative Bert Naquin. The island is home to a very knitted tribe making everyone family at the end of the day. While appearing to be spaced out, they all live pretty close to one another, making a wall of high homes.

Bert and her family have lived on the island for pretty much her whole life. She’s one of five siblings and also still resides in her family home.

Their home was built by Habitat for Humanity after the irreversible damage from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.

Bert’s home sits a whopping 15 feet in the air. The porch steps seem endless and if one gust of wind comes back, you can feel the whole thing shake and swing.

The height gives a good view, though, and from the porch you can see for miles across the island. A lot is now mostly water, but next to Bert’s home sits a forest. That used to be regular homes, according to Bert.

“My family used to live there,” said Bert, pointing to the overgrown patch of land next door. “Used to be all up and down the street.”

Frequent storms and rising waters have made elevated houses a real necessity on the coast.

Some homes are automatically elevated upon construction, as seen in Bert’s case, but many require elevation overtime to accommodate the weather.

Prices for raising a home range. The most basic costs can be anywhere from $11,000 to $15,500, according to home elevation business A-Home Team Elevation & Construction’s website.

Other factors can come into play with price including house size, permits, and existing condition. With these factors and many others figured in, the price range can jump to around $30,000 and $100,000.

How high homeowners actually want to go with their home is another considerable factor. Houses are typically elevated based on the owner’s desired or required Flood Protection Elevation (FPE), according to an elevation guide by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

A home’s FPE should be at least a foot higher than the Base Flood Elevation (BFE), FEMA recommends. This can result in a home elevation being three or four feet, which does not alter too much of the outside, says FEMA, but many direct coastal homes have had to result to much higher plans.

Hurricane Rita alone brought flooding of up to an estimated 15 feet, according to FEMA, which was plenty to lead Cookie and her family to raise their home. More recently, in 2019, Hurricane Barry flooded parts of Louisiana, including Isle de Jean Charles, with waters as high as seven feet, according to Cookie.

Higher elevations can serve some benefits outside of flooding protections. There is some potential to give homes new additions.

Roubion Shoring & Construction, an elevation and construction company located around Louisiana, recommends the addition for an underground garage if raising a home over eight feet, according to their website. They even have an option for a “basement.” They use special steel beams to cover the weight, according to the company.

Mainly, though, these home elevations can save personal belongings and, potentially, lives.

“The sky is the limit,” reads the Roubion Shoring & Construction website and that is all too true for these number of coastal homes battling the onslaught that comes with storm after storm, flooding after flooding.

The post ‘The Sky is the Limit’: Stilted Homes and Living Above the Floods appeared first on Rising Waters.

But coastal problems don’t just affect humans – they put many Louisiana native animals in danger as well.

Louisiana is home to over 400 bird species, according to Audubon Louisiana, an organization dedicated to restoring habitats and educating on birds.

“South Louisiana is a major nesting grounds for a number of species of birds; more than 325 of them travel along the Mississippi flyway each year,” said Director of Communications and Marketing for Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) James Krast.

While many of the various species are affected by eroding coast lines in their own way, one that has been at the forefront of it all is the state bird: brown pelicans.

In the mid-1960s, the brown pelicans were almost wiped completely due to the harmful pesticide Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (more commonly known as DDT) being used in the mid-1900s, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). While not harmful to people, the pesticide proved deadly for the pelicans.

In the late-60s, LDWF started the process of reintroducing brown pelicans to the Louisiana coast to save them.

The settlement of choice was Queen Bess Island, a remote island just northeast of Grand Isle in the Jefferson Parish, that earlier this year was finally declared restored by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA).

“I think they’ll like what we’ve done with the place,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards in a press release.

A call for action occurred when after a survey, it was concluded that Louisiana lost about 50% of its regular Brown Pelican colonies, according to the CPRA.

Through the project, land size has seen a jump from 5 acres to 37 acres, according to the LDWF, a major change for an island that produces 15 to 20% of the Louisiana’s bird nesting activity. It also serves as a nesting habitat for 10 other bird species including tri-colored herons and great egrets, according to the LDWF.

The $18.7 million restoration comes as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that harmed America’s coast, including Queen Bess Island. This island was completed just in time for the 10-year anniversary of the spill.

“The island was already slowly deteriorating, but the effects of the oil spill were catastrophic to the site,” said CPRA Board Chairman Chip Kline in a statement.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the final push for the island that was already losing ground after years of coastal erosion.

“Louisiana coast has the highest rate of land loss,” said CPRA Public Information Director Chuck Perrodin.

To combat this, programs are set up to literally rebuild the island pretty much from the ground up. This is a process known as “dredging.”

“We do dredging which is the process of sucking up sand, pumping it out, and rebuilding land,” said Perrodin. “We have done about 47,000 acres of coastal land in its time of operation.”

For Queen Bess Island, there was already an existing land that has just been, essentially, submerged into the coast. CPRA oversaw the production of the land which included enhancing the land with depositing of sediment.

“The coast is built like a layer cake of sediment,” said Perrodin.

The highest portion of the island is on the southwest side and sits about four feet above sea level, according to CPRA. It gradually slopes down to a marsh area.

The foundation is not the only thing provided for these birds and their refurbished nesting habitat. The project plan outlined by CPRA includes the addition of rock reinforcement, vegetation, breakwaters, and bird ramps.

A ring of rock reinforcements serves as another layer of protection for the birds residing on the island, according to CPRA. Breakwaters can provide help as well as slowing down coastal erosion from waves.

Vegetation provides additional habitat improvement for the nesting birds and will be kept up with for years to come, according to CPRA.

Limestone bird ramps are a new feature to the island and their purpose, according to CPRA, is to help the young, flightless birds safely have access to the surrounding waters.

Queen Bess Island has been deemed a Louisiana state wildlife refuge by the LDWF, which ensures it another level of protection for the island and the birds.

Various regulations for the island have been enacted by the LDWF including no hunting, no human access (including fishing in surrounding waters) from February 1^st to September 1^st , and no disturbance or removal of vegetation.

Queen Bess Island is not the only island to get a new life through restorations. Whiskey Island and Raccoon Island are two in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana that have been subject to revamping in order to protect land and habitats.

Raccoon Island, according to the Coastal Wetland Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA), was losing land that was threatening local bird habitats.

Both have been restored, according to Terrebonne Parish’s Department of Coastal Restoration and Preservation Director Mart Black.

The Louisiana coastline is home to organisms of all kinds and through continuous restoration efforts are working to be protected.

But while many of relocation ideas in place or in the works, coastal animals are unplanned for.

“Many songbirds as well as ducks and geese spend their winters in south Louisiana,” said Krast. “Other birds spend their entire lives here. Animals other than homo sapiens — no. I know of no other relocation plans.”

The post Brown Pelicans Find Sanctuary in Revamped Queen Bess Island appeared first on Rising Waters.

Seafood is the name of the game at Bayou Cane Seafood. Crawfish, crab, shrimp… all the usual suspects are freshly prepared in-house and ready to be served with one of their many sides like red beans or gumbo.

But one southern staple is unavailable: oysters. Oyster fishing season in Louisiana came and went from winter to early spring. Early in the season, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reported oyster mortality rates as high as 100% in some areas.

Conclusive end of season reports is yet to come out, but restaurant owners are enough proof of the situation.

“We got oysters in, but there just wasn’t enough. They sold out fast,” said Bayou Cane Seafood waitress Hannah Howard. “When they’re not good they just can’t sell them. Seafood poisoning is the worst food poisoning.”

Bayou Cane Seafood is just one of the various Louisiana seafood joints feeling the damaging effects on the oyster fishing season as a result of last year’s flooding Mississippi River. Too much freshwater intrusion and change in temperatures on the habitats led for an unfavorable oyster season.

The season and flooding were even so noticeably bad that the U.S. Department of Commerce declared a “catastrophic regional fishery disaster” for Louisiana, making them eligible for disaster assistance for the season.

The Bonnet Carré Spillway is believed to be a major played in the floods.

Due to the elevated water levels, the Bonnet Carré Spillway had to be opened by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The spillway is a floodgate near New Orleans used to redirect the water from communities, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The overflowing fresh water is deposited in Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, which connect to the Gulf of Mexico, both just two of the many homes for oysters.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported the usually unopened spillway was opened for a total of 123 days from late February to April and again from mid-May to late July, the longest period ever since its introduction in the 1930s, allowing fresh water to mix with saline waters.

In the long run, this mixture isn’t believed to be damaging to ecosystems in the water, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineering.

It can even provide real benefits to shellfish like oysters, according to Public Information Director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) Chuck Perrodin.

If the oysters’ habitats are too salty, “oyster drill snails” can attack the regular oysters. These snails are even sometimes boiled and sautéed to create their own meal called “bigorneaux,” but, ultimately, they just prove to be a hassle for fishermen.

“The drill snail literally drills into the oysters,” said Perrodin. “And kill them.”

Drill snails naturally thrive in the saltier waters, so when fresh water comes in, it tends to ward them off.

“The river flooding saves the oysters,” said Perrodin.

But where the issues start to arise is when there is too much freshwater, like of that coming from the flooding Mississippi River. That can leave the oysters without enough salt, according to Perrodin.

The weather temperature is believed to also be a factor with the oyster seasons’ problems. When the weather isn’t cold enough, the salt levels in the water drop, according to Howard.

“They’re not good when they’re not salty,” said Howard.

These disappointing results are a rough time due to how much of a staple oyster are for Louisiana residents. Oyster dressing is a favorite at the Thanksgiving tables along with oysters being big business for restaurants across the state.

Not to mention it is a key income for many fishermen including catching shrimp and crawfish.

Oyster fishing is a national economic commodity in Louisiana. They supply around 30%-45% of America’s entire consumption of oysters, according to researchers with Barataria-Terrebone National Estuary Program, an organization dedicated to preserving coastal land and habitats.

New Orleans even hosts the annual Oyster Fest at the end of May. Contests held at the event include oyster shucking and the World Oyster Eating Championship. The record is held by

Michelle Lesco for eating 33 dozen oysters in eight minutes.

A task force has been set up through the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in order to track the oyster industry and regulate production. The Louisiana Oyster Task force also deals with legal and legislative issues regarding oysters. This includes monitoring illegal oyster harvesting or failure to report on commercial data.

But the future for this Louisiana delicacy may be uncertain as the Bonnet Carré Spillway continues to open and irregular weather patterns effect temperatures and salt levels. Sales and supply of these salty, shelled creatures remains on the rocks as prices rise and flooding persists.

The post Louisiana Oyster Fishing in Shambles Due to Rising Fresh Water and Extreme Weather appeared first on Rising Waters.