Page 118 - Mapping the Nation: Taking Climate Action

In Back-to-Back Hurricanes, Louisiana National Guard Calls on Predictive Model Hurricane Delta made landfall in Louisiana in mid-October 2020, resulting in six casualties, flooding neighborhoods, and leaving thousands of residents without electricity. The storm hit just six weeks after Hurricane Laura devastated the same region, and just as power had been restored. With back-to- back hurricanes, the state's emergency responders called on new models and maps to anticipate where help would be needed most. Hurricane Delta—the third to hit the state that year and the fourth major storm—left a deluge of more than 15 inches of rain that damaged homes and businesses already reeling from Laura's winds, which tied an 1856 storm for the strongest gusts to hit the state. With a hurricane bearing down, Colonel Greg St. Romain, commander of the Louisiana National Guard's 225th Engineer Brigade, used maps informed by a new predictive model to guide his team into position. "The storm surge map helped me preposition the right types of equipment for a windstorm versus a flooding event," Colonel St. Romain said. "We have high-water vehicles, we have boat systems, and we have engineering equipment to 117