The many personal, physical, and social impacts of natural disasters disproportionately affect Black people, new research shows.

The paper, published in the journal Environmental Sociology, explains how disaster affects residency, transportation, health, employment, and social ties by examining data collected following 2017’s Hurricane Harvey.

The findings also show how such events can have political consequences for local governments regardless of constituents’ political ideology.

“These disaster impacts create a uniquely extensive and multiplied set of challenges,” says coauthor Alex Priest, a doctoral student at Rice University.

Priest and coauthor James Elliott, a professor of sociology, theorize that Black people and their close family and friends were affected more significantly because racism has long excluded them from equal access to a wide range of social resources, including but not limited to housing, secure employment, reliable transportation, healthy environments, and quality health care.

Read the full article about Black people disproportionately impacted by disasters by Amy McCaig at Futurity.