On a recent work trip to New Orleans, I visited a lighthouse. But, if you’re imagining a structure on the cliffs of Cape Cod, I need to clarify that this lighthouse was a little different. Here’s its story.

The learnings of Hurricane Ida

In 2021, with Hurricane Ida bearing down on New Orleans, Pastor Gregory Manning of the Broadmoor Community Church was forced to cross state lines and evacuate to Houston, 347 miles away. Manning and his congregation were no strangers to extreme weather, flooding and power outages. During Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, filthy water submerged the lower half of the church’s stained glass windows for weeks.

Fast forward 15 years, as Manning sheltered from the ravages of Ida, he found himself reaching out to political and faith leaders with a fundamental question: what should we do to serve our communities under these conditions?

I heard Manning reminisce about those days on a recent visit to his church, “People are hot,” he said. “People need food. People rely on power-operated medical devices. People need a way to power up.” Manning shared that more people died as a result of power outages in New Orleans than they did from storm-related flooding or falling trees, consistent with findings from other major storms.

That’s when Manning had the realization. Communities like his needed to stop waiting for the utility company to solve their problem, and to take matters into their own hands. In partnership with other pastors and elected officials such as U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, Manning created what is now known as Together New Orleans and its Community Lighthouse project.

With support from his congregation, Manning raised funds from the government and private foundations to outfit Broadmoor Community Church with solar panels and battery storage. In 2022, the solar panels on the roof of the fellowship hall and four battery packs on the side of the building went live, and the church disconnected from the grid. Today, he manages the load on the system via an app on his phone.

Hurricane Francine tests Broadmoor’s lighthouse

The first test of the church’s lighthouse came in September 2024, when Hurricane Francine made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane. Nearly half a million people lost power. Parts of New Orleans, including the Broadmoor neighborhood, experienced severe flooding.

The first person to pass through the doors of Broadmoor’s Lighthouse was a millennial who wanted to charge his phone, which he did. He came back later with some friends and they did the same. Keeping phones charged so lines of communication stay open is a critical need for many during times of crisis. More than 200 people came to Broadmoor’s Lighthouse during and after Hurricane Francine according to Manning.

Broadmoor’s Lighthouse aims to be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Folks can borrow batteries to operate cooling fans in their homes. The Lighthouse offers a community refrigerator where people can store life-saving medicines, such as insulin. And the steady stream of reliable electricity from the solar panels and battery storage allows a food pantry that runs out of the fellowship hall to power its freezers and refrigerators, distributing 4,000 pounds of food each week. And the Lighthouse offers information about where folks can go if they need more assistance.

Recruiting lighthouse keepers

The biggest challenge Manning has encountered so far in managing a Lighthouse is putting together a team of “lighthouse keepers” — the rock-solid members of a response team committed to staying in the neighborhood — come what may.

It brought to mind reading to my boys the children’s book, “Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie,” by Connie and Peter Roop. Coupled with beautiful watercolors, the true story of Abbie Burgess comes to life in that book and you develop a strong connection to the lighthouse keeper’s daughter, who in 1856 single-handedly kept the lighthouse lamps lit during a North Atlantic storm. Abbie’s story underscores the ethos of a lighthouse keeper.

While there aren’t nor’easters whipping into New Orleans, the risks of keeping the lights burning at the lighthouse are real. It’s hard to convince volunteers to potentially put themselves in harm’s way to stay behind and open the doors of the lighthouse, let people in, lend out portable batteries, provide resources, and maintain the bathroom.

Looking to the future

As of 2025, Together New Orleans has gotten 24 lighthouses up and running Their vision is to get to 86 so that, regardless of where one lives in the city, a lighthouse is only a 15 minute walk away.

While New Orleans is uniquely vulnerable to intense storms, we are all experiencing more extreme weather, which often leads to power outages. Solar coupled with energy storage can provide power even when the grid is down. If you have a story of how solar and energy storage has helped you or your loved ones weather the storm, I invite you to share your story at https://environmentamerica.org/center/take-action/share-your-solar-strong-story/. If I get enough, I may compile the stories in a future column.

Johanna Neumann of Amherst has spent the past two decades working to protect our air, water and open spaces, defend consumers in the marketplace and advance a more sustainable economy and democratic society.