United States | Responding to floods

America’s government is buying vulnerable homes amid rising flood risk

Some flood-prone places are being fortified, others abandoned

FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2020, file photo, buildings and homes are flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura near Lake Charles, La. In the past year, the southwestern Louisiana city of Lake Charles weathered two hurricanes, intense rainfall that sent water gushing down streets and a deep freeze that burst pipes. Under a revamped federal flood insurance program rolled out in the fall of 2021, millions of homeowners are set for rate hikes that officials say more accurately reflect a property’s risk. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Aug 18th 2022|Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Manville, New Jersey

The very year Bernadette Davis bought and remodelled her home in Lake Charles, in 2016, it was flooded. A nearby canal—what locals call a coulee—overflowed when a storm dumped up to 31 inches (79cm) of rain on parts of Louisiana. It flooded again the next year, from Hurricane Harvey, and in 2020 from Hurricane Delta. Then again last year, amid a torrential downpour in May. Once, when her elderly father refused to evacuate, rescuers arrived by boat.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Buy-out on the bayou”