CG spoke with advocates in Washington State and Hawai'i about the unique impacts of wildfires and floods on DV survivors and what's needed to stand up for them — from personalized solutions to direct cash assistance and the integration of violence prevention into every layer of emergency response.
Those fleeing domestic violence and the people who support them may be among the groups best positioned to expose both the fragility of our public systems to climate disasters and the dedication to resilience that it takes to help keep each other safe.
In August alone, gender-based violence prevention and recovery groups across the U.S. grappled with both wildfires and floods that strained their ability to provide care, as both staff and survivors coped with crumbling infrastructure and mass evacuations.
Just last week, Hawai'i was rocked by Hurricane Lowell, which toppled trees, tore up roadways, and knocked out power while disrupting harbor activity and tourism. But first came Hurricane Lala, which, back in mid-August, destroyed roads, washed away homes, ripped off roofs, and left families without electricity and water.
Earlier that same month, tens of thousands of people were evacuated in the Spokane, Washington, area amid historic wildfires and smoke that hung in the air. The Associated Press reported on August 6 that around 800 buildings had been destroyed and nearly 67,000 people had been displaced.
"Survivors and their children have had to sleep outside or in tents, and at times there hasn't been enough drinking water," Elizabeth Montoya told CG about impacts in the Spokane area.
Montoya, who is the Communications Coordinator at the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, or WSCADVSA, continued, "People are dealing with the trauma of violence at the same time they're experiencing the trauma of a disaster. In one instance, a survivor was assaulted by her partner on the side of the road after being displaced."
It's what WSCADVSA Executive Director Judy Chen describes as a "double danger."
"Survivors who had previously left abusive homes and gotten safe are suddenly facing having to return, or have their kids stay with sexually or physically abusive family members, or go to disaster relief shelters where an abuser could find them or sleep outside," said Chen, who described some of the specific impacts she'd heard about.
One mother said she had "nowhere else to go besides a home with unsafe adults," so she stayed "[holed up in a room with her child … staying awake to try to keep them both safe," Chen explained. Another mother "was unable to use the disaster relief shelter because the man who molested her young children was also staying there."
Chen also shared that advocates in the WSCADVSA network reported cases in which abusers had located former partners who had been displaced and "invited" them back home.
Looking for safety as wildfires encroach and violence is threatened could leave someone feeling as though the walls are closing in. And yet, with the national housing crisis and preexisting housing shortages in Spokane as compounding factors, there may be too few of those walls to go around for survivors and for staff working to support them.
As Chen described, "the mass evacuation of Spokane and subsequent lack of hotel space across several Eastern Washington counties" also reduced hotels and motels as a backup option in some cases.
Montoya explained that "some survivors have had to rely on public emergency shelters, tents, or other temporary options that may not be safe or private." Safe and available housing options may also be located far from survivors' support networks and appointments with advocates, who have similarly been impacted by disaster.
"Staff may be displaced themselves while still trying to keep hotlines, shelters, advocacy, and other critical services running," Montoya said. "Survivors may suddenly lose transportation, housing, phone or internet access, or contact with their advocate. The people and services they would normally turn to for help are going through the same emergency."
Navigating layered dangers was also a part of summer in Hawai'i, where many residents were still recovering from March's destructive Kona Low storms when Lala avoided making landfall but "sideswiped" the island chain in mid-August.
Variously classified as a tropical storm and as a hurricane as its intensity changed throughout the state and over a period of days, Lala saw more than three feet of rain trigger landslides and flash flooding in some areas. Roads, homes, schools, and businesses were impacted, with an estimated 690 buildings damaged and 300,000 households losing electricity.
For survivors of domestic violence or intimate partner violence — which does not exclusively but does disproportionately impact women and girls — and for those continuing to live under the threat of gender-based violence — or GBV — the loss of reliable transportation and safe shelter can pose additional safety risks. On top of that, the storm's financial strain hit local economies reliant on tourism and agriculture.
According to news outlet KHON2, the Hawai'i Farmers Union reported over $3 million in crop losses tied to Lala, just as farms had begun to rebound from spring's Kona Low storms and floods.
Nadine Ortega, Executive Director of Filipino feminist crisis response group Tagnawa Hawai'i, said her organization received numerous messages from people impacted by that springtime flooding who also shared that they were experiencing GBV.
"Many of these survivors were immigrant farmers — women who were simultaneously navigating flood damage, housing instability, labor rights violations, and abusive situations," said Ortega, whose organization describes itself as rooted in Filipino and Ilokano cultural values.
"Their requests were urgent and fundamental: money for rent, basic necessities, and a way out."
Ortega told CG that GBV already plagues the U.S. agricultural sector, stoked by unequal power dynamics, discrimination in the workplace, employment insecurity, and inadequate working conditions.
"Agricultural workers are invisible," she said. "They feed us, yet disaster relief excludes them, assuming land ownership, formal employment, and English proficiency."
Pointing to downstream effects of disaster response that doesn't do enough to support those most vulnerable to violence and more, Ortega underscored, "Recovery for immigrant farmers is recovery of agriculture, but mainstream models miss this entirely."On a global level, researchers have documented how the economic instability stemming from climate shocks can drive GBV — an observation that aligns with the findings of a study Ortega co-authored in the wake of Hawai'i's Lahaina wildfires in 2023.
The compounding of these effects made the creation of a direct cash assistance program a clear next step for Ortega's mom-led disaster-response group. Tagnawa Hawai'i’s Women's Relief Fund was designed to get money into the hands of those impacted by both GBV and the recent storms.
"Abusers frequently control access to money, housing, transportation, and documents," Ortega said. "A disaster destroys whatever fragile stability existed … In that moment, cash is not a luxury; it is a lifeline. It can mean the difference between staying in an abusive situation or leaving."
Angelina Mercado, Executive Director of Hawai'i State Coalition Against Domestic Violence — or HSCADV — wants people to know that support for GBV survivors amid climate shocks shouldn't be seen as a luxury or a nice-to-have either.
"It has to be built into everyday planning: how we respond and how we collaborate with other resources in the community," Mercado told CG.
In addition to ensuring that hotlines remain operational so that survivors can call to learn about what resources might be immediately available, Mercado wants violence prevention and survivor support information woven into every layer of disaster preparedness and response.
"In practice, that means normalizing the presence of domestic violence service information across all the resources that get distributed," she said. "For example, at pop-up events that distribute recovery resources such as food, clothing, or home repair supplies."
"The intention is not to single anyone out and potentially jeopardize their safety," Mercado clarified, pointing to the possibility that anyone directly approached with information or aid may feel put on the spot or vulnerable. "The point is to make information and resources universally available."
It's one of the reasons why she also wants to make sure that everyone from first responders to civilian volunteers can be trained on what resources are available and what to do if someone discloses that they have or may be threatened with violence.
And she emphasized that informational materials must be "translated to meet the needs of our diverse, limited English proficiency communities."
Ortega agrees: "Language access is life access."
Back in Washington State, meeting such individual needs amid wildfires has also been a priority.
"Advocates know that what works for one survivor may not work for another," Montoya said of the WSCADVSA partners working to support survivors and their families in the Pacific Northwest.
She highlighted that a tailored approach is critical because what might seem like the appropriate safety measure — evacuating to a public shelter, seeking relief from smoke at a public clean air center — may not in fact be the best option for every survivor, particularly if they have reason to fear running into a former abuser in such locations.
"Survivor advocacy programs are buying tents, generators, and water," Montoya described to CG as fire threats still loomed last month. "They are providing transportation so survivors can access other resources. They are finding alternative places to stay when emergency public shelters aren't safe. Advocates are working with survivors to find the safest option among very limited choices."
WSCADVSA Executive Director Chen described advocates "working around the clock" to meet practical needs, including securing air filters, gas cards, diapers, and cash.
"We're working with the Red Cross, state and federal officials, funders, and more," said Chen, who also referenced coordination with partners from Spokane to Yakima and Toppenish, located inside the Yakama Indian Reservation.
Washington State's Rural Resources' Victim Services and Tribal Program were directly affected by the August fires. Chen told CG that one survivor support organization serving multiple counties and a Tribal reservation reported that they were "serving hundreds of evacuated elders, children, and survivor households who have immediate needs for safety and indoor sheltering."
In Hawai'i, the 2020 Census indicated that Native Hawaiians account for nearly 22% of the state's total population, while Filipino immigrants constitute over 26%.
Indigenous and immigrant populations in both the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific archipelago underline that the needs and preferences of survivors who live at the intersection of marginalized communities must be a priority.
"Mainstream disaster response treats climate events as gender-neutral," Tagnawa Hawai'i's Executive Director Ortega told CG. "It also fails to take into account issues related to immigration, culture, class, ethnicity, and race, and other place-based power dynamics. Disasters do not create inequities — they expose and amplify them."
Ortega and Mercado both told CG that gender and the integration of violence prevention into disaster response cannot be an "afterthought" on the islands but instead planned for from the beginning — a sentiment that aligns with California legislation proposed this year by State Senator Steve Padilla.
HSCADV's Mercado wants to see "the network of victim service providers ... [to] meet at least annually to review our response plans and address any identified gaps" before coordinating with first responders and government agencies at the county and state level.
Some examples of how Ortega would like to see gender-sensitive protocols blended into emergency response include: safer shelters, staff training, legal protections for immigrants and agricultural workers, rapid-response cash assistance for GBV survivors, funding for trusted community organizations, and mobile, multilingual outreach teams.
Montoya of the Washington State coalition explained why being proactive is so important.
"Programs that are already stretched thin don't suddenly gain more staff, housing, or resources when thousands of other people need help too," she said. "Strong local services, flexible funding, and relationships between survivor advocates and emergency responders make communities better prepared when disasters happen."
This year's wildfire season has proved to be one of the worst on record for Washington. Nearly 1 million acres have burned as of mid-September amid one case of suspected arson, forest management policy changes that some experts say have worsened fire risks, and human-caused climate conditions believed to have exacerbated the blazes.
Officials, who noted that rapid response to the fires near Spokane last month helped limit damages, have called for increased and durable funding for fire prevention — not unlike advocacy groups looking to improve the climate resilience of GBV survivor supports across the country.
As for community groups in Hawai'i, many are still picking up the pieces after last week's latest round of flood and wind damage from Hurricane Lowell. Boulders blocked roadways, whole sections of pavement were stripped, and interiors of homes and businesses were battered and filled with storm debris.
The devastating details underscore the importance of efforts from groups like Tagnawa Hawai'i.
"We are not simply providing aid," Ortega said. "We are supporting women's agency, autonomy, and ability to rebuild their lives on their own terms" — support that is critical whether rebuilding after abuse, mass disaster, or both.
Kirsten Krueger contributed to the editing of this article.
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