Tegan Wendland

On this week's coastal news roundup, WWNO's Tegan Wendland talked with Nola.com | The Times-Picayune's coastal reporter Sara Sneath about how land loss is affecting a native duck species, prioritizing coastal restoration projects and new funding to rebuild a barrier island.

The National Hurricane Center predicted 2017 to be an above-average year for storms. But so far Harvey and Irma have been some of the strongest storms on record.

Environmental reporter Mark Schleifstein has reported on hurricanes throughout his 33 years with The Times-Picayune. As a result, he's garnered quite a reputation.

On this week's coastal news roundup, WWNO coastal reporter Tegan Wendland and Nola.com The Times-Picayune coastal reporter Sara Sneath talk with him about how modeling has changed, and how this season compares to years past.

Tropical Storm Harvey has made landfall another time, this time on the Louisiana coast, near Cameron Parish. The state is bracing for up to 10 inches of rain and strong winds.

The National Weather Service is warning of torrential rain and potential tornados.

New Orleans is bracing for the heavy rains generated by Hurricane Harvey with a pumping system that is still not fully operational.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu held a press conference today, saying he's confident the pumps will handle the deluge. He says crews have been working 24-hours a day to repair pumps that failed during heavy rain earlier this month. Some neighborhoods sustained several feet of standing water. He says the system is now operating at 92 percent.

Under overcast skies, officials are urging caution, not panic, ahead of heavy weekend rains. The city has been on-edge since failures of the pumping system contributed to widespread flooding on Aug. 5.

Since then, some public officials have been fired— and some, but not all, of the pumps have been fixed.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu says the city remains vulnerable.

On this week's installment of the Louisiana coastal roundup, WWNO radio's interim news director, Tegan Wendland, and NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune coastal reporter Mark Schleifstein talk about the largest low-oxygen dead zone in modern history along Louisiana's coast -- nearly 9,000 square miles, or as large as New Jersey.