Teen Vogue climate ‘survivor’: ‘We’re scared…we’re angry…I have lived through the kind of climate disasters that I know are not going to stop’

BY CHANTÉ DAVIS

Excerpt:

I have borne witness to some of the most extreme and devastating climate disasters that have wreaked havoc on our country. When I was very young, Hurricane Katrina hit my community in New Orleans. My mom packed our family’s belongings into her minivan, saying she felt the severity of the coming storm deep in her bones and that we needed to flee. So, like thousands of others, we left. Mom abandoned her stable job, our home, our entire world. We had the trajectory of a broken compass, the needle sticking straight ahead, with no destination other than making it through the storm. I will never forget the pictures I later saw of my old house submerged under water.

After fleeing New Orleans, my family ended up in Houston — but safety never lasts for my generation, especially in the Gulf South. Twelve years after Katrina turned our lives upside down, Hurricane Harvey burst through our doors. And a few years after that, Texas froze over, and I felt true cold and hunger for the first time.

I am only 17 years old, and I have lived through the kind of climate disasters that I know are not going to stop.

The climate disasters I’ve survived are no anomaly — they are the result of greedy fossil fuel executives and the inaction of career politicians who have neglected the climate crisis for years. With every passing year, we will see more extreme weather, more displaced families, more death and destruction.