Residents of a sinking Louisiana island have until the end of the month to apply for a new home under a first-of-its-kind federal program to help people retreat from the effects of climate change. The state Office of Community Development set Jan. 31 as the deadline for Isle de Jean Charles residents to request resettlement in a new housing development near Houma or an existing home elsewhere in Louisiana. The mostly Native American Isle de Jean Charles community in Terrebonne Parish has lost 98% of the land surrounding their homes since 1955, the result of a combination of subsidence, erosion and sea-level rise.