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Even in disaster zones, many prisons and jails lack evacuation procedures
Even in disaster zones, many prisons and jails lack evacuation procedures. Originally published by Yale Climate Connections.
By YCC Team · 2026-09-24T11:05:34.148Z
As Hurricane Milton barreled toward Florida in 2024, many counties across the state issued mandatory evacuation orders. But several jails in those areas did not evacuate the people incarcerated there. Similar events have been reported during Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, Hurricane Harvey in Texas, and other disasters. Environmental and disaster sociologist Maggie León Corwin https://www.linkedin.com/in/mleoncorwin/ says there’s no standardized nationwide protocol for evacuating prisons and jails. Policies vary, and many facilities lack adequate ways to safely evacuate. León Corwin: “What we’ve heard https://hazards.colorado.edu/news/research counts/exposing injustice research partnerships to document and reduce disaster risk for incarcerated people a lot is that … there’s not maybe enough buses or vans, that other places nearby that would be secure enough to hold folks who are incarcerated in a secure fashion don’t have the space.” So sometimes people are left behind without a way to communicate with loved ones. And in some cases, they’ve endured flooded cells, a loss of running water, or extended power outages. So she says governments should develop comprehensive procedures and plans for keeping incarcerated people safe as climate change causes more extreme weather. León Corwin: “It’s really important that we not leave anyone behind, and certainly not behind bars.” Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media