Extreme Weather, Natural Disasters Hurt The Poor Most: Report

Hardest hit endure the longest wait in distribution of public aid

The poor and middle class have been hit hardest by drought, floods and heat waves likely fueled by climate change, a report published on Friday said. In affected areas of U.S. states hit by five or more natural disasters and weather events in the last two years, the median household income was just over $48,000. That’s 7 percent below the national median, according to the report b the Center for American Progress. Floods, in particular, have hit lower-income households the hardest. Families near the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, where the largest floods occurred this year and last, earned an average of 14 percent less than the U.S. median. "These findings reflect a cruel phenomenon sometimes called 'the climate gap' — the concept that climate change has a disproportionate and unequal impact on society's less fortunate," said the report, called “Heavy Weather: How Climate Destruction Harms Middle and Lower Income Americans." (Reuters)

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