ABOUT THE
DISASTER
EQUITY PORTAL
The Disaster Equity Data Portal (DEDP) is an ongoing collaboration between disaster recovery advocates from Louisiana, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and Texas. The goal of this website is to use data to show how major disasters affect the communities they hit. There is a critical need to understand who has been impacted by a disaster, who needs help the most, and whether disaster assistance programs are effectively getting help to those communities.
Disasters have historically hit low-income communities and Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other communities of color the hardest, and these families and communities receive the least help to recover. A combination of structural racism and structural economic inequality has placed these communities in the most vulnerable areas, denied them protective infrastructure, and produced a disaster recovery system that leaves families without the help they need to recover and with less protection from the next disaster.
Disasters are no longer rare; climate change means disasters of all kinds are an increasingly dangerous part of daily life for communities across the country. The American disaster response and recovery system must become more equitable, develop the ability to manage multiple disasters at the same time and focus on protecting people from disasters instead of just responding when they happen. Disaster recovery is a racial justice issue, an economic justice issue, an environmental justice issue, and a climate justice issue.
How can we use this data?
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To monitor the FEMA Individuals and Households Program to ensure funds are reaching the hardest hit areas and people.
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To determine whether federal disaster recovery funding is equitable. For example, the Hurricane Harvey dashboard shows that wealthier households were more likely to have applications approved and receive more funding on average than households with less wealth.
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To track differences in how federal disaster recovery programs are being administered over time and between disasters. To illustrate the importance of this issue, consider two major hurricanes that hit the United States and its territories in 2022, Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico and Hurricane Ian in Florida. In Puerto Rico, nearly three times as many people applied for individual FEMA assistance as compared to Florida. As of February 25, 2023, however, only 17,000 households damaged by Hurricane Fiona have received housing assistance, compared to 71,000 households damaged by Hurricane Ian in Florida.
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To inform advocacy for changes that make the American disaster recovery system work better for everyone.
About The Cohort
Funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation, the Disaster Equity Data Portal was developed by six nonprofit advocacy organizations from around the country. Our organizations have decades of experience fighting for housing justice and equitable disaster recovery.
Texas Appleseed is a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy and advocacy organization.
We advocate at the state and local level for fair, just, and equitable laws.
Ayuda Legal is a non-profit organization that provides free and accessible legal aid in Puerto Rico.
Fair Share Housing Center is a nonprofit advocacy organization that uses legal, policy, and community-building strategies to dismantle decades of racial and economic discrimination in New Jersey and nationally that excludes people from the opportunity to live in safe, healthy, and affordable housing.
The Houston Organizing Movement for Equity (HOME) is a diverse coalition of community-based organizations in Texas. Our shared mission is to make Houston stronger, more resilient, and more equitable in the long road to recovery from climate disasters.
Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center is a nonprofit civil rights organization established in 1995 to eradicate housing discrimination in Louisiana.
Texas Housers supports low-income Texans’ efforts to achieve the American dream of a decent, affordable home in a quality neighborhood of their choosing via research, advocacy, and community outreach.