Sign the petition to FEMA and State Governments: Prioritize disaster preparedness and relief for Black and brown communities.
In February 2021, the Arctic Blast storms brought devastation to communities across the South, with particularly intense impacts for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Caribbean communities.
A multi-partner impact report spearheaded by Smile Trust that surveyed over 50,000 impacted households reveals that the storms caused millions of people to lose power and be put under boil water advisories. Families were stranded inside their homes without heat, food, and water.
The report also found that 91% of those surveyed believed that governments purposefully and actively neglected to protect the health and welfare of Black communities in the aftermath of the storms. Residents of majority Black and brown neighborhoods had less access to disaster relief resources and were over-represented among the scores of people evacuated and displaced by the storms.
Approximately three-quarters of the people who died in the Arctic storms were people of color.
These systemic infrastructure failures across the region were avoidable and required immediate intervention. Intervention requires not only preparation and updates to energy and water infrastructure to meet the challenges of worse and more frequent storms, but also requires more resources from FEMA and local disaster relief agencies with a more equitable distribution of these resources to those most impacted.
We demand that FEMA and state governments:
1. Provide safe housing and clean drinking water for all impacted residents of major disasters.
2. Continue advocating for a Major Disaster Declaration in the wake of storms to access further federal assistance.
3. Prioritize the needs of the low-income communities and communities of color that disproportionately bear the effects of extreme weather events and industrial pollution.
4. Ensure that communities most affected by the climate disaster have a say as to the best path forward.
5. Establish a $1 billion community storm recovery fund.
6. Complete a full comprehensive audit.
7. Determine damage and unmet needs.
8. Work directly with and invest in community hubs and community-based support organizations on the frontlines of recovery efforts.
9. Put in place a moratorium on all utility shut-offs including water and electricity.
10. Each state must investigate their respective widespread power failures.
11. Require energy producers to winterize their equipment.
12. End the dependence on fossil fuel consumption and move to publicly-controlled renewable energy systems.
Sign the petition to FEMA and State Governments: Prioritize disaster preparedness and relief for Black and brown communities.
Participating Organizations
The Smile Trust
198 Methods
Blue Amp Action
Build Back Better USA
Daily Kos
The Juggernaut Project
Progressive Reform Network
Stand.Earth
A multi-partner impact report spearheaded by Smile Trust that surveyed over 50,000 impacted households reveals that the storms caused millions of people to lose power and be put under boil water advisories. Families were stranded inside their homes without heat, food, and water.
The report also found that 91% of those surveyed believed that governments purposefully and actively neglected to protect the health and welfare of Black communities in the aftermath of the storms. Residents of majority Black and brown neighborhoods had less access to disaster relief resources and were over-represented among the scores of people evacuated and displaced by the storms.
Approximately three-quarters of the people who died in the Arctic storms were people of color.
These systemic infrastructure failures across the region were avoidable and required immediate intervention. Intervention requires not only preparation and updates to energy and water infrastructure to meet the challenges of worse and more frequent storms, but also requires more resources from FEMA and local disaster relief agencies with a more equitable distribution of these resources to those most impacted.
We demand that FEMA and state governments:
1. Provide safe housing and clean drinking water for all impacted residents of major disasters.
2. Continue advocating for a Major Disaster Declaration in the wake of storms to access further federal assistance.
3. Prioritize the needs of the low-income communities and communities of color that disproportionately bear the effects of extreme weather events and industrial pollution.
4. Ensure that communities most affected by the climate disaster have a say as to the best path forward.
5. Establish a $1 billion community storm recovery fund.
6. Complete a full comprehensive audit.
7. Determine damage and unmet needs.
8. Work directly with and invest in community hubs and community-based support organizations on the frontlines of recovery efforts.
9. Put in place a moratorium on all utility shut-offs including water and electricity.
10. Each state must investigate their respective widespread power failures.
11. Require energy producers to winterize their equipment.
12. End the dependence on fossil fuel consumption and move to publicly-controlled renewable energy systems.
Sign the petition to FEMA and State Governments: Prioritize disaster preparedness and relief for Black and brown communities.
Participating Organizations
The Smile Trust
198 Methods
Blue Amp Action
Build Back Better USA
Daily Kos
The Juggernaut Project
Progressive Reform Network
Stand.Earth
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