10.4a1 Migration

Moreover, in some cases, people are forced to migrate (or permanently move) after extreme weather events. Twenty years later, approximately 40% of the 1.5 million people who evacuated due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 did not return to their pre-Katrina homes. More than a third of those who did not return moved hundreds of miles away, meaning that all parts of their lives changed, including their jobs, schools, neighborhoods, and more. The “Katrina exodus [was] the largest U.S. movement of people forced to migrate because of a climate event since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s” (Baussan, 2015). Nearly 40% of Katrina evacuees from Louisiana moved to Texas, with many evacuees also moving to Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida (Groen & Polivka, 2008). Therefore, a climate shock can affect people directly experiencing the disaster and the communities receiving people who move to them after such disasters.

Photo 10.14

People Evacuated to the Superdome in New Orleans During Hurricane Katrina

People also migrate to new countries, at least partially due to climate shocks. For example, Honduras experienced devastating back-to-back hurricanes in 2020, which contributed to an increase in the number of migrants from Honduras seeking asylum in the United States in 2021 (Peñaloza & Rose, 2023). Climate change can also contribute to violent conflicts, pushing people to migrate (The White House, 2021). The effects of climate change, however, can also prevent people from migrating. It costs money to move somewhere new. However, people may need to use whatever savings they have to meet their basic immediate needs like food and shelter, leaving them with little money to pay for a move (Zickgraf, 2023).