Working together for community resilience, economic prosperity and a better quality of life for all in Louisiana.

Since Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in August 2005, each of Louisiana’s 64 parishes has been included in a federal major disaster declaration as a result of a named tropical event. Moreover, the Great Floods of 2016—two rainfall events six months apart affecting wide swaths of the state—caused severe flash and riverine floods and led to major disaster declarations in 56 parishes. These events have left an indelible mark on Louisiana’s history.

In response, LA SAFE (Louisiana's Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments) was created to provide a holistic approach to flood risk of all types — as well as the myriad of human, economic, and environmental impacts experienced following past floods and those anticipated in the future. Beginning with a partnership between the State of Louisiana and the Foundation for Louisiana (FFL), the LA SAFE process ultimately included passionate leaders, organizations, and residents who were committed to taking proactive steps toward mitigating and avoiding risk, increasing resilience, and addressing coastal challenges head on. Acknowledging that land is a shrinking commodity in Louisiana, we worked together to acknowledge that adaptation, protection, and restoration must go hand in hand. We realized that some of our most vulnerable coastal communities will need to consider relocation over the next 50 years and that migration trends are already illustrating some of the movement we expect to see in the future. As much as we are doing to restore and rebuild our coast, we will face a higher degree of flood risk and land loss over decades and generations to come.

By demonstrating the power of community-led planning informed by science and fueled by the experience and vision of residents, LA SAFE developed a set of place-specific strategies to use as we become a stronger, safer, more resilient Louisiana. Through this set of seven adaptation strategies, LA SAFE is Louisiana’s first effort in what will be a generations-long process to take what has been a historical hardship—catastrophic flood risk—and use it as a catalyst to develop a vision for a new Louisiana in which disaster risk reduction, economic growth, equity, education, and innovation are not just ideals, but hallmarks defining Louisiana’s place in the global effort to combat the consequences of climate change.