My name is Mark Schleifstein, and I’m a Pulitzer Prize-winning environment reporter and a member of the Coastal Watch Team for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. It’s the first day of hurricane season, so ask me anything about hurricanes, what it’s like reporting during a hurricane, Katrina, or the city of New Orleans’ levee system and storm prep.
A little about me: I’ve been covering New Orleans’ hurricanes and its levee system for 34 years, including the 2002 series, “Washing Away,” which described the system’s inability to withstand major storms three years before Hurricane Katrina.
After Katrina, I outlined the reasons for the levee failures that destroyed tens of thousands of homes in metro New Orleans, including my own. Since then, I have been covering the reconstruction of the levee system and future plans to improve it. I also cover the state’s 50-year, $50 billion Master Plan for coastal restoration and hurricane protection. And I am the co-author of the 2006 book, “Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms.”
Proof: https://twitter.com/NOLAnews/status/1001579723154173953
Edit: Thanks for joining me for the past two hours discussing the upcoming hurricane season. Remember that you can see the latest hurricane news at http://www.nola.com/hurricane/. And feel free to contact me with other questions at mschleifstein@nola.com .
I’ll be finishing school next year (in FL) and wanted to know what the job market is like in and around New Orleans. Would love to return to New Orleans to work, I miss it like crazy.
