SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN)

"Once the headquarters of Jean Lafitte and later the site of a U.S. military fort, West Grand Terre island now hosts a fleet of modern excavators and sand-pumping pipelines rather than smuggled treasure or cannon. The $102 million restoration of West Grand Terre, adjacent to Grand Isle, marks a milestone in Louisiana’s effort to fortify its first line of defense against hurricanes."

"LOWNDES COUNTY, Ala. -- For almost 30 years Perman Hardy obeyed a simple rule: When it rains, turn off the water."

"Gulf Coast researchers are raising alarms about a $1.4 billion coastal restoration project’s potential to kill and injure bottlenose dolphins. Now, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries employee whose job it was to count dolphin deaths in the state says she was fired in 2019 because her work reaffirmed the potential of the project to devastate a dolphin population."

"One of the rare bipartisan highlights of Florida’s legislative session this year was the decision to spend $300 million buying up land for conservation. ... The result could be a boon to landowners and developers as well."

"After decades of lobbying and legal action from environmental groups, the federal government has proposed protecting more than 500 miles of river habitat for the Pearl River’s namesake fish, the Pearl darter."

"Toliver and Jessica Tucker are used to the dark, oily water, the bulging eyes, the gray flesh decaying to a pulp in the city’s bayous. They have even become accustomed to the smell — God, the smell — of all the rotting fish in gruesome flotillas, victims of a toxic Red Tide in Tampa Bay."

"A toxic algal bloom is plaguing Tampa Bay and befouling St. Petersburg’s shores. It could stick around for a while."

"Hurricane Zeta's surprisingly significant damage to Louisiana, much of it attributed to lost roofing that allowed water damage inside residences, should be seen by property owners as a prompt to take steps now to avoid similar damage in future storms, says Ian Giammanco, a research meteorologist and wind engineer at the Insurance Institute for Building and Home Safety."

"More manatees have already died in 2021 than any other year in state history, as biologists point to seagrass loss in the Indian River Lagoon as a catalyst for starvation and malnutrition."