Earlier this month, 16 years after Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ida battered southeast Louisiana and left hundreds of thousands of people without power. The storm, one of the strongest to hit Louisiana, continued inland with enough power to cause tornadoes and intense flooding throughout the northeast US, particularly in and around New York City.

As of September 15, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved 25 parishes in Louisiana and 18 counties in New York and New Jersey for individual assistance grants, which allow people who qualify to apply for disaster recovery funds. The extensive geographic range of Ida’s destruction is a sobering reminder of the urgent need to adapt to the realities of climate change.

Last September, we wrote about how disaster relief and recovery efforts must consider the diverse needs and vulnerabilities of affected communities. Today, in the midst of another record-breaking hurricane season, the question of what building back better will look like—and when migrating might be the better choice—seems particularly salient.

Equitable long-term adaptation will require policymakers to consider the unique challenges that populations with limited resources face in both leaving their homes and staying, and to create systems that best support them in preparing for the effects of a changing climate.

Households with low incomes face several challenges in adapting to the increased risk of disasters. They have less access to high-quality housing stock and are more likely to live in higher-exposure areas, such as basement apartments and houses in low-elevation neighborhoods, which have a greater likelihood of suffering damages.

Read the full article about equitable climate adaptation by Amy Rogin and Eric Burnstein at Urban Institute.