When a hurricane approaches, high winds and rising floodwaters aren’t the only reasons a storm can turn deadly.

“It’s really the power outages now that kill you,” said Broderick Bagert, an organizer for Together New Orleans, who explained the need for more community-based resilient energy in the Big Easy.

The grassroots group hosted a press conference with over 100 supporters in late April in preparation for the start of the 2025 hurricane season, which spans from June 1 to November 30, in order to share information on the value of solar energy in Louisiana. Forecasters have predicted the 2025 hurricane season to be “above average” with nearly a dozen anticipated hurricanes across the Atlantic and Gulf region.

Power and Health in the Big Easy

Medical vulnerabilities increase during extreme weather, and power outages can create life-or-death scenarios when residents are forced to evacuate and don’t have access to clean water, food, heat, or air conditioning. For residents who require electronic medical devices or routine medications that require refrigeration, the situation can escalate quickly.

When residents have power, they have broader access to information and can make more informed decisions for their safety. The city’s emergency management system, Ready NoLa, provides updates on severe weather conditions, evacuations, city closures, power outages, and safe zones—but residents need a working telephone or computer tablet and internet connection to access the information.

More than 20 people died in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in 2021, with sweltering heat and lack of air conditioning due to power outages being a contributing factor to many of the fatalities. Last year, when Hurricane Francine flooded the city, tens of thousands of residents were without power.

No power-related deaths were reported, but the city also had a failsafe: a network of 15 resilient power hubs through the “Get Lit, Stay Lit” program at churches and health centers, and six restaurants with microgrids that provided power to the public.

Now, 20 years since Hurricane Katrina, grassroots groups say New Orleans is more prepared to handle mass power outages following severe weather events. Still, they need broader support to continue their work. According to Bagert, “Get Lit, Stay Lit” is the largest microgrid program in the country.

Together New Orleans was founded in 2022, and the organization supports the network of “community lighthouses,” housed inside local churches and health centers, that have access to solar energy and are open following severe weather. The first to open was CrescentCare, a federally qualified health center that needed resilient energy to maintain public health services and preserve temperature-sensitive medications. The network now includes 10 permanent community lighthouses that operated in neighborhoods without electric power following Hurricane Francine.

“A Safety Net for Our Neighbors”

One example is Bethlehem Lutheran Church, which began operating a permanent system as a community lighthouse in 2023. The church has solar panels on the roof of the building and battery storage for up to 50 kw/h, which allows them to use the entire building, including the operation of the air conditioning and commercial kitchen wares to prepare meals without additional power sources.

The lighthouses allow residents to charge their phones, refrigerate medications, gain access to air conditioning, and access medically necessary electronics until traditional power is restored.

“These systems are really helping us to provide a safety net for our neighbors,” said Philip Diaz, community resilience coordinator at the church.

“I don’t think there’s another place in the country that has a more robust, community organizing (for) energy access at the scale and the depth that is happening in New Orleans,” said Will Heegaard said founding director of Footprint Project, a national nonprofit that builds and provides disaster relief solar energy grids, including the system at Bethlehem Lutheran. The nonprofit provided 10 portable batteries in New Orleans in the days that followed Hurricane Francine.

Heegaard said it’s difficult not to “humble brag” about the work that’s happening in New Orleans. He believes that the resilient energy movement has helped save lives by giving residents who can’t always afford to evacuate alternative places to go during and after extreme weather events.

Access to permanent microgrids is the most sustainable option long-term, and Heegaard said the portable grids are useful in the short term in areas that aren’t flooded.

Those behind the grassroots work have pushed for collective benefit and are thinking about places and spaces where people gather, whether or not there is inclement weather. Heegaard said that Footprint’s partners in New Orleans are interested in expanding access to resilient energy to include restaurants, community centers, and mobile residence hubs.

“They swing for the fences,” he said. “…It’s a very synergistic collaboration. They’re getting these batteries and solar panels on permanent facilities, and we are mobilizing stuff on wheels.”

Direct Relief has provided support for resilient power efforts in New Orleans, including financial assistance to the Footprint Project and a Power for Health grant to CrescentCare.