Maui County officials did not announce or call for evacuations on social media until hours after the flames began spreading. Residents were left to alert others and facilitate evacuations on their own. The sudden need to escape flames caused residents to leave their elderly or disabled neighbors as they fled. Roads out of Lahaina were closed to address downed power lines, blocking drivers from exiting affected areas and causing severe traffic jams. Those in traffic were fatally trapped or forced to retreat to the nearby harbor to avoid flames and wait to be rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Survivors have expressed that a few more minutes of preparation would have saved lives.
State and federal emergency declarations were made in the days after the fires, triggering actions by the government. Government agencies, like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are mobilized for most emergency declarations by government officials to aid in response and recovery. However, some government actions exacerbated situations, such as the highway blockade to Lahaina that trapped Hawaiians without food, medicine, or water in affected areas. During this time, FEMA provided initial payments of $700 for survivors’ immediate needs.
The Indigenous populations in Hawai‘i attribute this devastation to the removal of native agriculture and the commercial industrialization that has occurred over generations of Hawaiian colonization. Across wildfire-prone places like Hawai‘i and the Pacific West Coast states, commercial and residential developers routinely remove native vegetation that keeps wooded areas naturally fire-resistant. They then replace this natural vegetation with invasive non-native plants. Despite ample knowledge of the effects of non-native agriculture on disaster resilience, those with power decide to continue to plant non-native plants in high-risk areas. States and municipalities are responsible for promoting fire-resistant landscaping and regulating commercial development to decrease fire risk. Natural preventive or adaptive measures must be incorporated into development plans for cities at risk for flooding, fires, tornadoes, and record temperatures. This could look like investing in the protection and repair of coral reefs to slow down tropical storms or planting shade trees in urban areas to keep temperatures down on a summer day. A culmination of these measures can end up saving lives, homes, and repair costs for cities and states.
The refusal to provide Indigenous Hawaiians self-determination to protect their land themselves subjects them to inadequate protections against disaster capitalism, increasing wildfire risk and exposing Hawaiians to preventable death and displacement. Disaster capitalism is the “exploitation of natural or man-made disasters in service of capitalist interests.” Developers often take advantage of unstable situations sparked by natural disasters and limited regulations to gain assets from the most exposed people and properties. In Hawaii, many homes and properties are underinsured and not in compliance with current building codes. This could be due to title issues, lack of home insurance regulation, or personal economic limitations. The Maui wildfires opened the doors for opportunistic commercial developers to dispossess those Indigenous Hawaiians who have managed to hold on to valuable land on the islands. In the face of inflation and gentrification, more and more Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) homeowners are becoming unable to afford to live in their respective cities or maintain family property after a disaster.
Faulty government assistance also exposes Native, poor, and minority communities to trauma, permanent dispossession, and displacement. Lack of homeowner’s insurance and clear land title can disqualify families from federal funding for recovery and force sales of residences to developers. Disaster-prone states like Florida and Texas struggle to protect homeowners from insurance companies in the aftermath of storms. Recently, insurance companies have sought to reduce coverage and hike up rates in high-risk areas, once again limiting necessary relief and protection for low-income BIPOC homeowners who may be property-rich and cash-poor. This especially affects disabled and senior residents on fixed incomes who need accessible homes and affordable, comprehensive insurance coverage.
BIPOC and lower-income homeowners suffer disproportionate harm after a devastating natural event. After Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2005, swarms of private contractors swept up properties from under evacuees as they tried to recover from the deadly storm and the devastation that followed in the weeks after. In the city at this time, it was estimated that $165 million of FEMA recovery funds went unclaimed due to property title issues. Inadequate insurance coverage and limited economic relief contribute considerably to systematic property losses by BIPOC owners, resulting in post-disaster community gentrification.
Because too many policymakers prioritize commercial profits over historic communities, failing to regulate insurance companies and real-estate developers, the effects of Hurricane Katrina are still felt in Louisiana today. Some displaced families never received the support necessary to return home. Decades after the world watched Black New Orleans residents wade waist-deep in polluted flood waters, Americans in the Gulf States commonly suffer similar levels of flooding after a storm without adequate assistance. Since 2005, numerous record-breaking storms have wreaked havoc on U.S. coastlines with little improvement in protective policy by states and federal agencies.
Systems designed for evacuation, relief, and reconstruction can often fail lower-income communities, those with disabilities, and people of color. Additionally, the government systems that we rely on throughout an emergency are not free from discriminatory policies or profit motives. State and federal relief often comes too little too late and has been shown to favor higher-income communities for funding and prevention measures. Municipal zoning codes purposely place high-pollution industries near minority communities, contributing to higher rates of sickness and disability as well as aggravating the effects of natural occurrences.
Coastal cities prone to floods and hurricanes like Houston and New Orleans have inadequate drainage in low-income areas yet tend to prioritize more valuable neighborhoods for preventive construction and economic relief. The City of Houston has known for years that its drainage systems in low-income neighborhoods have improper drainage and continue to take no action. Due to over-reliance on natural gas, the Texas power grid often fails during and after severe storms, causing deadly power outages that leave families without air conditioning or heat when they need it most. Texas was also found to be discriminately funneling federal disaster grants to rich, white neighborhoods despite the higher rates of need in other areas. While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works to regulate pollutants that contribute to climate change, legislators and courts seek to limit the EPA’s powers in favor of powerful oil and gas companies which line their pockets.
In the weeks, hours, or minutes before a disaster, vulnerable populations are less likely to have resources to safely evacuate. Without a place to go or money to evacuate, many opt to weather dangerous storms in place. With weather forecasts providing weeks of preparation time before a hurricane touches down, accurate updates, efficient evacuation measures, accessible shelters, and economic support should be afforded to disabled, low-income, and senior residents to ensure they are not left to face a storm head-on. While wildfires and tornadoes can happen at a moment’s notice, effective alarm systems, protective insurance and infrastructure regulations, and natural measures of mitigation, such as native trees or adequate flood drainage, can save homes and lives in the face of climate disasters.
FEMA and the EPA must ensure that prevention, assistance, and mitigation efforts are effectively dispersed to affected areas by officials, states, and municipalities. Governments must adhere to the guidance of climate experts and regulatory bodies. Climate- and disaster-conscious law could be embedded into local ordinances and state constitutions. Many of the catastrophic effects of natural disasters in the United States can be prevented with effective state and federal planning followed by quick and efficient response efforts by government agencies. Politicians and government officials must take action to protect all members of their communities without influence from lobbyists and self-serving business interests. As natural disasters become more severe and common, measures to protect the most vulnerable can protect everyone.
