Climate Disasters

70% of Southerners live in counties that have experienced disasters since March 2020, compared to 58% of non-Southerners.

Number of FEMA county-level disasters

Mar 1, 2020 - Jun 30, 2022

Source: FEMA. Notes: Excludes COVID declarations and statewide declarations. Includes hurricanes, fires, floods, tornadoes, levee breaks, landslides, earthquakes, severe ice storms, and other severe storms

Over the last 2 years, climate disasters have compounded the nation’s misery. In 2021, there were 20 climate disasters that caused a billion dollars in damage — up from an average of 7 annually in the two previous decades.^1,2 Southerners have been most likely to experience a disaster, with 70% of Southerners living in a county that has had a disaster since March 2020, compared to 58% of non-Southerners. In AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, and NC, more than 95% of the population live in a county that has had a disaster since March 2020.

41% of Americans have experienced multiple disasters in that short time frame. In Louisiana, every county (parish) has experienced 12 or more FEMA-declared disasters since March 2020.

As a result, federal spending on disaster relief more than doubled in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2018 or 2019.³ But the time- and document-intensive FEMA application process has been shown to increase inequity because it is too burdensome for smaller/rural municipalities and people with low-incomes.⁴ Moreover, the supply of available housing diminishes, and housing costs (including insurance) increase after disasters.5 The preponderance of disasters across the South likely contributed to the higher rate at which Southerners who were late on housing payments in June 2022 were fearful of being evicted or foreclosed upon (Likelihood of Eviction or Foreclosure).

1. “2020 U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in historical context”. Smith. Climate.gov. January, 2021. https://www.climate.gov/disasters2020 

2. “Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: Overview”. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/ 

3. “Disaster Relief Fund, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security”. USASpending.Gov. https://www.usaspending.gov/federal_account/070-0702 

4.  “As Disaster Costs Rise, So Does Inequality. Howell, Elliott. Sage Journals. December, 2018. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2378023118816795 

5. “Natural Disasters and Housing Markets. The Tenure Choice Channel”. Dillon-Merrill, Ge, and Gete. December, 2018. https://www.aeaweb.org/conference/2019/preliminary/paper/YZ56fSb6