Between the Wood and Tide

On October 10th Hurricane Michael made landfall in Mexico Beach, Florida, killing dozens of people and destroying nearly 60 miles of Gulf Coast towns. The aftermath of the storm left tens of thousands of people homeless and was the most intense U.S. hurricane to make landfall since Hurricane Camille in 1969.

Weeks after the storm, residents continued to live in homes without roofs, walls or electricity, while others were just able to return to find their homes and neighborhoods destroyed. The permanent displacement due to the storm is not yet known, but more than 4 percent of the Florida Keys’ population never returned after Hurricane Irma, forcing thousands of people to find homes elsewhere. Hurricane Florence produced record rainfall and river flooding which forced the sustained evacuation of communities throughout the Carolinas for weeks after the storm passed. The American Red Cross estimates thousands have been left without permanent housing and are currently displaced months after these storms.

Scientists regularly release data illustrating the effects climate change has on these storms and argue they will continue to intensify in the coming years. As they continue to intensify, so will rates of permanent displacement throughout coastal communities.

This project is ongoing and is a document of the long-term effects multiple hurricanes have had on Americans throughout the United States.