Extreme Weather in U.S. Displaced 2.5 Million People Last Year
The Census Bureau found that among nearly 2.5 million people displaced last year in the U.S. by tornadoes, wildfires and hurricanes, socially vulnerable groups were more strongly represented
A person searching a neighbor’s property after a tornado struck off Country Road 16, on June 19, 2023 in Louin, Mississippi.
Michael DeMocker/Getty Images
People often think of disasters as great equalizers. After all, a hurricane, tornado or wildfire doesn’t discriminate against those in its path. But the consequences for those impacted are not “one-size-fits-all.”
That’s evident in the U.S. Census Bureau’s newly released results from its national household surveys showing who was displaced by disasters in 2023.
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Overall, the Census Bureau estimates that nearly 2.5 million Americans had to leave their homes because of disasters in 2023, whether for a short period or much longer. However, a closer look at demographics in the survey reveals much more about disaster risk in America and who is vulnerable.
It suggests, as researchers have also found, that people with the fewest resources, as well as those who have disabilities or have been marginalized, were more likely to be displaced from their homes by disasters than other people.
Decades of disaster research, including from our team at the University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center, make at least two things crystal clear: First, people’s social circumstances – such as the resources available to them, how much they can rely on others for help, and challenges they face in their daily life – can lead them to…
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