Brad Pitt's post-Katrina housing project is rotting and collapsing — and the potential health effects are inciting a major lawsuit

As Hurricane Florence makes it way toward the Carolinas, coastal communities are scrambling to gather their belongings and evacuate to shelters amid heavy traffic, lane closures, and oceans overflowing onto low-lying roads.

It's a scenario that residents of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward know all too well. In 2005, their community experienced the gravest effects of Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 hurricane that devastated the Gulf Coast. In addition to its many casualties, the hurricane damaged or destroyed around 800,000 residences, leaving many homeless.

The disaster inspired actor Brad Pitt to create Make It Right, a non-profit foundation dedicated to rebuilding homes in the area. Within months of its founding in 2007, the organization had completed its first round of six homes, with construction costs estimated at $150,000 per home. More than a decade later, Make It Right has built more than 100 homes in New Orleans, and expanded to New Jersey, Kansas City, and an Indian reservation in Montana.

Make It Right not only failed to deliver on its promise to fix the homes, but also failed to alert residents upon learning of issues with the design and materials.

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The foundation has long touted its homes as "meet[ing] the highest standards in green building." Each unit is solar panels, non-toxic paint, and energy-saving appliances. Pitt even brought in world-renowned architects like