FILE - Louise Billiot, left, a member of the United Houma Nation Indian tribe, walks around the home of her friend and tribal member Irene Verdin, which was heavily damaged from Hurricane Ida nine months before, along Bayou Pointe-au-Chien, in Pointe-aux-Chenes, La., on May 26, 2022. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has developed a singular plan to engage more fully with hundreds of Native American tribes who continue to face climate change-related disasters, the agency announced Thursday, Aug.
18. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) The United Houma Nation, the largest Indigenous tribe in Louisiana, has secured a $56.5 million grant to enact a massive plan to deal with growing climate risks that tribal leaders hope will serve as a model, ranging from infrastructure improvements to potential relocations.
The grant to fund the hazard mitigation and resilience plan was announced at a press conference in Houma on Friday organized by the tribe. The money is being awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S.
Department of Commerce. Over the next five years, tribal members and partnering organizations will build resilience hubs across the six-parish tribal area, expand a disaster-ready communication network and ultimately establish a community-led migration plan. The plan is designed to create stronger infrastructure and enhance the short, medium and long term needs of the tribe’s 19,000 citizens.
Lora Ann Chaisson “This funding is a testament to t.