Displaced by Disaster

by Shannon Moriarty

Published March 30, 2009 @ 02:56PM PT

Imagine if the last time you saw your home was during a rushed evacuation due to a flood, storm, or fire. If that natural disaster claimed all of your worldly possessions, including the roof over your head.

We primarily discuss homelessness as a result of poverty and structural inequalities. But what about those who lose their home when an unexpected tragedy strikes? With the recent rising of the Red River, officials fear that over 30,000 North Dakotans may learn what it's like to lose everything, including their homes.

Here's the story from the AP:

Officials fear some 30,000 people could be left homeless in the northern plains if the Red River breaks through levees protecting Fargo as well as Moorhead lying on the opposite bank in Minnesota.

The weary region was granted some relief Saturday afternoon when water level sank by a few inches to 40.58 feet (12.4 meters), but city officials warned that the river was not done with them yet.

"With water this high we absolutely are in the watch and respond and plug mode," Fargo mayor Dennis Walaker said.

The Red River is putting enormous amounts of pressure on the city's 48 miles (77 kilometers) of protective dikes and levees and crews are struggling to contain all the leaks, he told reporters.

And it could very easily rise again before it finally crests since there is still "a lot of water" flowing into the Red from tributaries and overland flooding.

U.S. Poverty blogger Leigh Graham (who has done a lot of work on the Gulf Coast) does an excellent job pointing out the challenges of forced evacuations, even with a disaster preparedness plan in place. As she points out, the poor and vulnerable nearly always feel the brunt of the impact when a natural disaster strikes. 

Consider Hurricane Ike. Even today, six months after the storm, thousands of people who were evacuated from their homes have been unable to return. Since no records have been kept of the people who were refused federal aid after the evacuation, many may remain homeless. Here's the story from the Houston Chronical:

Nearly 16,000 families in the Galveston-Houston area are living in temporary shelter under federal housing programs. An additional 1,700 were referred for assistance but could not be reached or were refused aid.

No agency, however, is keeping track of the thousands who have made other arrangements while waiting for their storm-damaged homes to be repaired or for affordable rentals to become available in their home towns.

These untold number of victims are staying with family or friends, moving from one host to another, paying out of their own pocket for a hotel or an apartment, living in travel trailers in front of their damaged homes, or living on the streets.

Losing everything to a natural disaster is tragic, but being derailed and unhoused for an extended period of time is heartbreaking for those left without a home. From an advocacy perspective, it's downright frustrating. 

But as significant the challenges of meeting the needs of those left homeless after the storm, the outpouring of support from the tight-knit North Dakota community has been just as awe-inspiring:

One family offered their home to anyone left homeless by flooding, even sharing their security entry code. When another couple lost their house, total strangers showed up at their hotel with chicken dinners, brownies and quilts.

In the neighborly spirit synonymous with North Dakota, some people have given out their phone numbers on radio talk shows, offering shelter to any listeners in need. The generosity is so common that even as thousands of people are driven out of their homes by the overflowing Red River, most storm shelters are virtually empty.

"There is a different flavor up here - the type of hardworking ethic and the people helping each other up here that you don't see in a lot of cities," said Tom Hlady, who signed up through his church to take as many as nine people into his five-bedroom home.

Just as quickly a disaster can cause physical destruction, it can bring a community together. But even if this outpouring of support proves to be as strong as the tides of the Red River, one simple fact will not change: those displaced by this disaster will need a place to live once the storm has passed.