Its bad enough being poor, throw in a natural disaster and...

[dajoki]

Why Do (More) Bad Things Happen to Poor People?
by Megan Greenwell June 10, 2010 11:30 AM (PT)
http://uspoverty.change.org/blog/view/why_do_more_bad_things_happen_to_poor_people

Don't Americans living in poverty have enough to worry about without freakish natural disasters? Between the jobs crisis, the lack of affordable health care and child care, living in areas without access to fresh groceries, the elevated risk for illness and poor performance in school ... the list could go on for miles. Then throw in a tornado, an occurrence that could destroy anyone's life but will obviously have the greatest effect on those with the least. It's funny, I never hear about tornadoes destroying McMansions in wealthy suburbs, but these stories about dirt-poor towns all but ruined by twisters seem to be never-ending.

The most recent town-wrecking tornado has gotten almost no media coverage outside of its immediate area in the midwest (the devastating floods in Nashville, which caused destruction on a larger scale, were similarly ignored by too many media outlets). But in Hopkins Park, one of the poorest towns in Illinois, there is nothing else to talk about. Miraculously, no one was killed, but residents are still clearing the wreckage and haven't announced how many homes were destroyed. The total is bound to be high: many Hopkins Park residents lived in trailers or shacks without strong foundations. Many of them didn't even have indoor plumbing.

Sometimes I just have to shake my head at the misfortune the world can wreak on those who are least prepared to handle it (the earthquake in Haiti, for example, hit one of the poorest countries on earth). The unemployment rate in Hopkins Park is a whopping 44 percent, and the average household income of those who do have jobs is a measly $14,000. The only silver lining of this devastating tornado is that it will finally bring a bit of attention to a town that seems to have been all but forgotten by much of society.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn declared four counties disaster areas, making them eligible for disaster relief funds. And Hopkins Park may finally get the money it's owed to install a tornado warning system — the town was awarded a $32,000 grant three years ago, but the state never paid up. Why does it take a natural disaster to remind us of our neighbors who spend their whole lives in desperate need?

[readmoreoften]

1. Disasters hit the poor because the poor live in unsound structures under global capitalism.

Haiti's disaster was not "natural" as much as it was a disaster of poverty (starting out as a successful slave revolt that agreed to pay back their largely French masters for "property losses" to the tune of 40 million in the early 19th century and accruing ever since...) Santiago, Chile weathered a--what was it?--8.9 earthquake. Why? Because the city is build to modern building standards. The infrastructure in Haiti was created on the cheap, using improper materials for earthquake preparedness. If Haiti were up to even "2nd world" standards, there would've been little destruction. It was a 7.0.

Why do people in trailers get swept up in tornados? Not because tornados like the poor, but they live in inadequate shelter.

Most "natural disasters" are man-made disasters of improper/lack of funding, impoverished/makeshift infrastructure. They are the prime example of the inhumanity of our system--only to be rivaled by the "feel good" charity telethons that deliver next to nothing in aid to the suffering and make a bunch of NGO managers rich.

[dajoki]

2. I was thinking the same thing...

while reading the article. Its the poor who are forced to live in unsafe and inadequate housing, that is why we constantly see poor people cleaning up after some sort of disaster.

[mdmc]

3. ..