Trapped in the Floods
The Intercept, February 12, 2022: Trapped in the Floods: With Floodwaters Rising, Prisoners Wait for Help in Floating Feces
“Fiercer hurricanse, rising seas, profuse rainfalls: The climate crisis is causing more flooding across the nation. And while federal and state institutions are generally lagging when it comes to climate resilience, the carceral system is in particular peril. Many jails and prisons were built as the war on drugs ramped up and have since been all but neglected. Worsening disasters will test the deteriorating buildings.
“‘Most of the infrastructure we have now was built in 1980s and 1990s,’ said Molly Gill, vice president of policy for FAMM, an organization focused on sentencing reform. ‘We built all these prisons when we passed mandatory sentencing laws and had our prison booms and embarked on mass incarceration,’ she said. ‘All those chickens are coming home to roost.’
Additional reading:
Grist, September 21, 2021: Floods, power outages, no running water: Jails during Hurricane Ida
The Marshall Project, August 2, 2018: What Happened When a Hurricane Flooded My Prison
The Nation, October 13, 2017: After Harvey, Texas Inmates Were Left in Flooded Prisons Without Adequate Water or Food
