Emergency Housing Demand Soaring to New Heights

The number of U.S. residents that have spent time in emergency housing during the first 9 months of 2020 is greater than in any year since 2010.  And given that the western wildfire season is just getting started, and there are still a couple of months to go in hurricane season, the final 2020 number will no doubt be through the roof.

The Numbers Behind the Emergency Housing Boom

The American Red Cross (ARC) is the barometer for the national numbers, because the organization houses more disaster victims than any other entity in this country. 

As of the third week of Sept. 2020, ARC sheltered disaster victims for over 807,000 nights (nearly half of which occurred in Louisiana due to Hurricane Laura and other storms that have pounded the state).  This is far more than the second highest year on record, 2017, during which ARC housed victims for 658,000 nights.  To add even more perspective, the 807,000 nights so far in 2020 is more than 4 times greater than the annual average over the past decade.

Some of the reasons for this spike are likely indicators of climate change, which has exasperated hurricane activity by warming the oceans, and has worsened fire activity thanks to extreme heat and drought conditions in the west.  The 2020 hurricane season has been record-breaking according to some measures, and the western U.S. is suffering through what may end up being the worst year for forest fires ever, so far destroying a whopping 4 million acres in California alone.

The coronavirus outbreak has also complicated emergency housing efforts.  The most obvious example is that more victims have been housed in hotels, as opposed to traditional spaces like school gymnasiums, in order to prevent virus hotspots.  A more subtle example is the virus-driven unemployment rate, which has forced more families to seek help because they cannot afford to pay for emergency housing accommodations on their own.

Could this be the new normal?  Well, the pandemic should fade away eventually, but unfortunately climate change is likely here to stay.  Therefore, government officials should start planning now to accommodate an even greater demand for emergency housing in the coming decades.