About one in three Americans reported in a recent Gallup poll that they have personally experienced an extreme weather event within the last two years, Axios’ Ayurella Horn-Muller reports.
Why it matters: Climate change is fueling more severe and common storms, floods and wildfires nationwide — and experts say disaster relief systems aren’t built to withstand the resulting mass displacement.
- The result: More people are left at the mercy of an inequitable public safety net.
Details: Roughly 3.4 million Americans were displaced by a hurricane, flood or other disaster event in 2022, according to 2023 Census Bureau data.
- Around 16% of those displaced never returned home — and 12% didn’t return for more than six months, per E&E News.
The latest: A new analysis published by the Urban Institute, informed by surveys led by the University of Colorado Denver, looks at housing recovery for survivors of the climate-fueled Marshall Fire on Dec. 30, 2021, which destroyed 1,084 Colorado homes.
What they found: For households making less than $75k per year, 70% of survey respondents reported still being in the first stage of rebuilding — or the “pre-building permit” step.
- This compares with just 38% of those making more than $200k who are in that same stage.
- The analysis also found lower-income households have “greater levels of underinsurance.”
