Even in disaster zones, many prisons and jails lack evacuation procedures

Audio transcript:

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 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 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.”