How Natural Disasters Harm the Poor More Than the Rich

From the moment natural disasters arrive through the months and years that follow, these traumas are far from the equal-opportunity catastrophes we imagine them to be.
That’s especially worth remembering now, on the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
But it’s true everywhere. In the anxious days before the storm makes landfall, people wonder if they should stay, protect their homes, and hope for the best—or if they should simply evacuate right away. Some want to leave, but don’t have the means and don’t know whom to ask for help or whom to trust. Their government usually isn’t much help.
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