The Morning: Climate bankruptcy

September 2, 2021

Good morning. Remnants of Hurricane Ida barreled into the New York City region, killing at least eight people. And what happens when climate change comes to a small Southern town.

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Damage in downtown Fair Bluff.

Climate bankruptcy

Fair Bluff is a small North Carolina town in an idyllic setting, amid cornfields and tobacco fields and alongside the verdant Lumber River. But Fair Bluff's setting may also be dooming the town.

Like much of eastern North Carolina, it sits on a coastal plain, one that is increasingly vulnerable to flooding because of the rise in extreme rainfall and severe hurricanes spurred by climate change.

Almost five years ago, Hurricane Matthew flooded downtown Fair Bluff with four feet of water, buckling roads and destroying buildings. Three years ago, Hurricane Florence brought more flooding.

This summer, my colleague Christopher Flavelle traveled to Fair Bluff to see how it was recovering, and the answer is: not well. The high school, the grocery store and other shops never reopened after Matthew. Downtown storefronts sit vacant, with trash strewn about. The only local factory closed, too. The population, about 1,000, fell by half. Al Leonard, a town official, says the town may soon eliminate the police department — as well as his job.

"What started as a physical crisis has become an existential one," Christopher writes.

Fair Bluff offers a worrisome glimpse into the future. The increasing frequency of extreme weather has left countless towns, in the U.S. and around the world, vulnerable to both physical devastation and economic insolvency.

Fair Bluff's old Y.M.C.A.

In California, wildfires have destroyed much of several towns, including Greenville and Paradise. In Florida, a 2018 hurricane wrecked more than 80 percent of the homes in Mexico Beach. In Colorado, Boulder County has sued Exxon Mobil and another oil company over a devastating 2010 fire, saying that they should "use their vast profits to pay their fair share of what it will cost a community to deal with the problem the companies created." And in Louisiana, North Carolina and other states, flood-prone towns like Fair Bluff are withering.

"Their gradual collapse means more than just the loss of identity, history and community," Christopher explains. "The damage can haunt those who leave, since they often can't sell their old homes at a price that allows them to buy something comparable in a safer place."

What to do?

Many towns try to start again, often with help from government money. Fair Bluff is among them, with town officials hoping to rebuild downtown in a less flood-prone area and attract new businesses. Yet some residents have understandably decided to leave, also with help from government money. Rebuilding isn't just expensive; it also often involves investing in a place at obvious risk of future destruction.

As the journalist Alexandra Tempus recently wrote for Times Opinion:

We are now at the dawn of America's Great Climate Migration Era. For now, it is piecemeal, and moves are often temporary. … But permanent relocations, by individuals and eventually whole communities, are increasingly becoming unavoidable.

Some of the destruction from climate change is now unavoidable. The Earth has already warmed too much and will continue warming in the years ahead because of greenhouse gases. But there is still a very wide range of outcomes, from unpleasant if often manageable to truly horrific.

The House and Senate are putting together legislation meant to slow climate change, partly by subsidizing the use of clean energy and penalizing the use of dirty energy. To pass, the bill will need nearly unanimous Democratic support; congressional Republicans have signaled that they are likely to oppose it universally. Climate experts believe the bill could have a significant impact on greenhouse-gas emissions, especially in the electricity sector.

Cleaning up Fair Bluff's old downtown will cost an estimated $10 million, which the town cannot afford.

For some places, though, it may already be too late to avoid a bad outcome. One of them is Seven Springs, N.C., a town about 100 miles northeast of Fair Bluff that Christopher also visited this summer. After each major flood in recent years, more people have left, and the tax base has shrunk further. Today, the town's population is down to about 55.

Stephen Potter, the mayor, is hoping to replace some of the lost property tax by turning an empty lot into an overflow parking lot for some of the R.V.s that visit a nearby state park. "I really don't want to be the mayor that presides over the death of Seven Springs," Potter said.

For more photos from Seven Springs and Fair Bluff — as well as reporting from Princeville, N.C., the first town in America chartered by freed slaves, which is also threatened — click here.

The latest on extreme weather:

Flooding on Queens Boulevard. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency in New York City for the first time.Dakota Santiago for The New York Times

Remnants of Hurricane Ida barreled into the New York City region, halting rail service and flights, and raising a tornado warning in the Bronx. At least eight people have died.
Buses turned into amphibious vehicles and subway stations roared with water: Here are the scenes from New York.
Fuel shortages are compounding the misery in Louisiana, which endured its third day of power outages after Ida.
Has climate change altered your life? Share your story with The Times.

THE LATEST NEWS

Texas Abortion Law

A protest at the Texas State Capitol in Austin yesterday.Montinique Monroe for The New York Times

The Supreme Court decided not to block a Texas law prohibiting most abortions after six weeks, less than a day after it went into effect.
The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court's three liberal members in dissent.
The law bans virtually all abortions without exception for pregnancies resulting after incest or rape, making it the most restrictive in the nation.
It also lets private citizens sue anyone who "aids and abets" an abortion, including drivers who take a patient to a clinic.

Afghanistan

The Taliban plan to appoint their most prominent religious figure as Afghanistan's supreme authority, a role similar to supreme leader in Iran.
The U.N.'s emergency food supply in Afghanistan will run out by Sept. 30, officials said.
Much of the foreign policy establishment supports military intervention. President Biden is a rare dissenting voice.

The Virus

New York State extended protections against evictions to January.
Doug Ducey, Arizona's Republican governor, banned mask mandates in schools. Now some students are sick, and parents are angry.
The podcaster Joe Rogan, who has been critical of vaccination, tested positive. He said he had taken ivermectin, a veterinary deworming drug that experts consider unsafe.

MORNING READS

Monica Lewinsky is a producer on the new FX series "Impeachment."Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times

"That woman": Monica Lewinsky wants to reframe her story.

A fight for light: New office towers could dwarf a 320-year-old synagogue.

Art: Was that Basquiat actually inspired by Tiffany?

"I helped destroy people": The story of a disillusioned F.B.I. agent.

A Times classic: Stop yelling at your kids.

Lives Lived: At around 50, Carolyn Shoemaker offered to help her husband gather data at a California observatory. She became, without scientific training, the world's foremost detector of comets and asteroids. She died at 92.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Ice boxes of the rich and famous

In the kitchens of the ultrawealthy in the United States, fridges are not meant to be seen. "I don't think I've had a client that's wanted to reveal their fridge for a very long time," an interior designer whose firm has worked with Cher, Tommy Hilfiger and Kylie Jenner, said.

Designers cover the fridges with custom wood that blends in with a kitchen's cabinetry. They resemble "the imaginary dragons of childhood fantasy in that they are both invisible and enormous," Caity Weaver writes in The Times.

Cabinets, too, are becoming refrigerators. Often located in kitchen islands, small built-in drawers store wine, drinks and fresh produce. "They like to have lots of beverages," said Shannon Wollack, the founder of an interior design firm whose clients include many people in the entertainment industry. "A lot of it is beverages."

Wealthy people want to hide their appliances, designers said, because kitchens are rooms for casual congregation. As a result, they furnish them like living rooms, with art and expensive lighting. "Kitchens used to be concealed," Wollack said, adding, "It was like the work space. And now, kitchens are more of a lifestyle." — Sanam Yar, a Morning writer

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas.

Make this simple recipe: A holy-grail, one-pot roast chicken.

What to Watch

The superhero movie "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" offers "a protagonist who can't compete with the more fascinating characters around him," Maya Phillips writes in a review.

What to Read

"Intellectual 20-somethings discussing their vexed feelings for one another is a road made mostly of potholes," John Williams writes in a review of Sally Rooney's new novel. "Rooney avoids almost all of them."

Green Thumb

Do your spring planting in the fall.

Now Time to Play

The pangrams from yesterday's Spelling Bee were demonize and demonized. Here is today's puzzle — or you can play online.

Here's today's Mini Crossword, and a clue: Chin dimple (five letters).

If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here.

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David

P.S. The Times's main Twitter account, @nytimes, surpassed 50 million followers.

Here's today's print front page.

"The Daily" is about the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. On "Sway," Julie Cordua and Ashton Kutcher discuss fighting child sexual exploitation.

Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti, Ashley Wu and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com.