This is on the media's midweek podcast. I'm Brooke Gladstone.

The Atlantic hurricane season is currently underway, and the National Weather Service is expecting

more storms than usual due to warmer than average ocean temperatures, among other conditions.

In fact, it was the tail end of tropical storm Barry that contributed to

the deadly flash floods in Texas two weeks ago. That's claimed at least 132 lives so far. As I write

this, over 100 people are still missing. When it comes to planning for climate disaster, writer and essayist Nathaniel Rich has argued in the New York Times that his city of New Orleans can set an example that the rest of the country would be wise to follow.

I think the perspective down here is franker and more honest than you tend to see anywhere else in this country, certainly.

I spoke to Nathaniel late last year, but we thought it was definitely worth replaying.

I was struck by this kind of metronomic drumbeat of the reporting this hurricane season

from places like Asheville or even to the Florida coast of people saying things like,

I would never would have expected this or who could have imagined. And nobody says that kind of thing

here. People here live with their eyes wide open to existential risk because we know every hurricane season might be the last.

And how does that perspective play out in how New Orleans plan?

We're ready. I think everybody here has a fully filled pantry. They have gallons of water.

Those who can afford it have whole house generators.

There are evacuation plans, as you said, depending on the trajectory of a storm and the duration

of the devastation. You know, they say, you know, pack a go bag or something whenever, you know,

FEMA says that whenever a hurricane is coming. We have go bags. You know, we say, you know, pack a go bag or something whenever, you know, FEMA says that

whenever a hurricane is coming. We have go bags. You know, we have ghost suitcases, and we don't

need to be reminded. And you don't wait for a tropical storm to form. You track every depression and

cyclone advisory with, you say, grim scrutiny. And local news tracks it, too.

Yeah, I have to say that the local news is excellent at this. You say, then there's sort of

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