Last month, New York City was hit by a powerful storm that flooded streets and homes and left the subway system paralyzed.

During the course of the storm, more than 1,900 calls were made to the city’s non-emergency 311 line to report flood-related issues, URL Media partner Documented reports. An analysis of those calls showed the areas hit hardest have “above-average populations of foreign-born residents.”

That finding is in line with what the outlet, in collaboration with nonprofit news organization Climate Central, discovered in its analysis of over 11 years of 311 data published in April.

But this isn’t something that just happens in New York City. Across the country, BIPOC communities and other vulnerable populations are bearing the brunt of the impacts of climate change.

In a matter of four months, California was hit by not one, not two, but 14 atmospheric rivers earlier this year — inundating the state with rainfall and overwhelming basins meant to keep the water back.

In the unincorporated community of Pajaro in Monterey County, a failed levee during one of those storms put the entire town under several feet of water, URL Media partner Prism reports. The mostly Spanish-speaking town, home to roughly 3,000 people, was completely devastated.

The lack of federal support in the weeks and months following the flood, coupled with the lack of local representation, left residents without recourse.

“People feel neglected,” Eloy Ortiz, the special projects manager for the climate justice organization Regeneración Pajaro Valley, told Prism. “People feel like they’re unwanted.”

And that BIPOC communities and other vulnerable populations are the most at risk when it comes to flooding, in particular, is not a coincidence. As Prism reports, decades of discriminatory housing and lending practices actively pushed non-white renters and homeowners into flood-prone regions.

Even the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) acknowledges that Black residents are 10% more likely to live in areas prone to flooding, and last year launched an effort aimed specifically at educating Black communities on the importance of being prepared for natural disasters.

“Black and African American communities often suffer disproportionate impacts from disasters,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in the release announcing the effort. “This is something that we must work to change and that starts with how we prepare.”

But individual preparedness can only go so far.

As Ray Levy Uyeda writes for Prism, “It’s not possible to control water, but it is possible to mitigate climate change and make sure that those who are impacted by flooding have the resources to survive, recover, and rebuild.”  —Alicia Ramirez

Uplift. Respect. Love.