Where Do You Go When Your Prison Cell Floods? Inadequacy of Current Climate Disaster Plans of US Departments of Correction

Covid-19 in US jails and prisons: implications for the next public health crisis

“…Extreme heat is associated with an increase in suicide watch incidents in Louisiana prisons,39 increased all-cause mortality in Texas prisons,40 and increases in incidents of extreme violence in Mississippi prisons 41. A review of departments of correction documents and state emergency management plans found that few prison systems had emergency plans for climate disasters and tended to focus on the protection of buildings and use of incarcerated people as labor during crises rather than the safety and wellbeing of people who were incarcerated 42. More specifically, 33 departments of correction (66%) did not have emergency management plans on their website.…”

“…41 A review of departments of correction documents and state emergency management plans found that few prison systems had emergency plans for climate disasters and tended to focus on the protection of buildings and use of incarcerated people as labor during crises rather than the safety and wellbeing of people who were incarcerated. 42 More specifically, 33 departments of correction (66%) did not have emergency management plans on their website. While each prison and jail system is unique, universal emergency management plans to safeguard the health of those incarcerated are necessary.…”