Thread by @Telegraph

🚨🇺🇸 Louisiana is on the front line of climate change, with flooding and hurricanes uprooting communities. Can Joe Biden hope to fix it?

🧵 A thread...

telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/07/0…

📍 How serious is the challenge ahead?

👉 To the east, in the Mississippi Delta, sea levels are rising. Since 1932, some 1,883 square miles of land have been submerged.

🇺🇸 If this was Delaware or Rhode Island, America would have one fewer state

🐊 With higher temperatures, eggs are hatching faster. Despite a harvesting programme, there are now two million wild alligators in the state, up from 100,000 half a century ago.

🏘️ Hundreds of thousands of people have become climate refugees in their own state

🌊 To the west, Lake Charles has been hit by two hurricanes, a deep freeze and its third wettest day on record in the last year.

🌪️ Nearly seven per cent of residents moved out of the area in 2020 - more than any other place in the US.

📍 Read more: telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/07/0…

📌 So, what started this problem?

🌉 While critics point to a lack of investment in resilient infrastructure, state officials say they are facing an uphill battle against nature

🌉 One of primary concerns is the rusting, crumbling Calcasieu River Bridge, which opened in 1952.

⏳ It was built to be used for 50 years and carry 37,000 vehicles a day.

🚛 Nearly 70 years on, 80,000 vehicles travel across it every day from Florida to California

🇺🇸 So, what is the solution?

💰 The framework for a $1.2 trillion deal has been outlined, much less than the $2 trillion wanted, but Mr Biden has proclaimed: "We have a deal."

🗳️ It will still need 60 votes in the Senate to pass.

👇 Here's what the money will go on:

🚨 So, can Joe Biden fix Louisiana? Time will tell.

📍 Read @JamieoJohnson's full dispatch below:
telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/07/0…