Why inequality matters in disaster recovery

Edition: US - Today's top story: In the Caribbean, colonialism and inequality mean hurricanes hit harder [Click here to view this message in your web-browser](. Edition: US 21 September 2017 [[The Conversation]Academic rigor, journalistic flair]( Editor's note Nature’s wrath just won’t quit. In the past two weeks, the Caribbean has been battered by back-to-back monster hurricanes that have pummelled Puerto Rico and other islands, while Mexico’s twin earthquakes killed more than 300, including dozens of school children. Everyone impacted will suffer, but inequality means that the pain from these disasters is not evenly distributed. As Levi Gahman and Gabrielle Thongs write, poor communities and women in the Caribbean [face greater risks]( both during and after storms. And, in Mexico, the country’s [long-neglected rural south]( is in for a much longer recovery than its well-resourced capital. After a flood or fire, communities often face decisions about where and how to rebuild. Environmental scholar Adrianne Kroepsch wanted to see whether local media coverage of devastating wildfires in Colorado got beyond chronicling events to address underlying causes and ask what’s needed for a better future. Her findings? Journalists did – up to a point – raise tough policy questions, especially in [stories marking the disasters’ anniversaries](. Catesby Holmes Global Commissioning Editor Top story A satellite image of Hurricane Irma spiraling through the Caribbean. NOAA/AP [In the Caribbean, colonialism and inequality mean hurricanes hit harder]( Levi Gahman, The University of the West Indies: St. Augustine Campus; Gabrielle Thongs, The University of the West Indies: St. Augustine Campus The Caribbean is facing its second deadly hurricane in as many weeks. This isn't just bad luck: the region's extreme vulnerability to disaster also reflects entrenched social inequalities. 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