What No One is Talking About in the Wake of Hurricanes and Oil Spills

Oct 11, 2021

Washington (CNN) Often, the damage that extreme weather or an environmental disaster inflicts on communities works as a one-two punch. The first punch: the actual event -- an oil spill, a hurricane, a winter storm, the lethal heat that scorched parts of the US as recently as a couple weeks ago. The second punch: the trauma that can persist long after the event is no more.

It's this second punch that people tend to overlook or ignore. "I don't think that there's a misunderstanding that all communities are hit the same," Robert Bullard, a distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University, told CNN, referring to the fact that communities of color are disproportionately hurt by extreme weather. "But I do think that when the dust clears, not enough attention is given to the post-disaster trauma that exists after the headlines are gone."   Read more