Important Filipino American history site endangered by Climate change
Important Filipino American heritage site is at risk of destruction due to climate change.
Long before the American Civil War ,St. Malo was the first filipino settlement in America and thus the site holds great importance in the history of America. People now wishing to visit St. Malo would require a tour guide and a ferry to get there. Over the years, sea level has rose, destructive storms, and environmental degradation have changed the landscape of the area greatly and only traces of the once thriving city remain today.
St. Malo’s early Filipino community prospered for many years. But the famous 1893 hurricane, Chenière Caminada which is now considered a Category 4 disaster , nearly flattened the village and destroyed huts killing many people in its wake.
Due to the destruction caused by the hurricane and floods , some survivors left the village and migrated to other parts of the state. The rest moved a few miles away and later founded their own village named “Manila Village” in the town called Jean Lafitte.
“The Filipino seamen living in Louisiana were willing to live out their lives in the marsh far away, so they could make a decent living, but it was dangerous when the storms came through every decade or so, and then, the whole place was devastated and they had to rebuild it,” says a local.
The American state of Louisiana has always been on the frontlines of the natural disasters. In 2016, the state lost about 25% of the coastal land that existed in 1932, a figure approximated by the US Geological Survey, which is roughly equal to the size of Delaware. Climate Experts say that climate change, coastal erosion, sea level rise, Global Warming and other man-made environmental degradation have led to this point.
Now, the Filipino American community is facing trouble in preserving its heritage, with the location being of the most important historical locations.
Despite nearly completing two centuries of their history, Filipino Americans in Louisiana say that awareness among people regarding this issue is of prime importance and that more people need to know the story of the two villages namely, St. Malo and Manila Village in Jean Lafitte, and how climate change endangers their history.
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