NEW ORLEANS — Remember when we couldn't wait for 2020 to end, after almost a year of Covid and the busiest hurricane season ever? Today the 2021 hurricane season is "officially" over, but it's not as if we can relax. For the second year in a row, we exhausted the regular list of storm names. Thankfully, the tropics are quiet right now, but this year's first named storm came early — Ana, on May 22. Scientists say more storms and longer hurricane seasons are likely in our future.
And even when we're not preparing to evacuate on short notice, south Louisiana has to deal with the aftereffects of hurricanes all year long. From FEMA backlogs to insurance company run-arounds, we are perpetually in hurricane season.