Seattle’s Emergency Preparedness Network is Growing 

By Yordanos Tesfazion

The Community Voices blog documents stories of our parks and public spaces and the people behind them. At Seattle Parks Foundation, we collaborate with hundreds of partners, volunteers, organizations, and city agencies who are working towards building a region that can withstand our current climate emergency. This piece is the first in a new series dedicated to highlighting how they utilize parks and public spaces to foster inclusive communities and grow urban resilience.

If it feels as if natural disasters have been on the rise year after year, it’s because they are. Extreme weather events such as the devastating Southern California wildfires and Central Texas Hill Country floods made the first half of 2025 the costliest six months on record, breaking several records. The Palisades and Eaton fires surpassed Hurricane Katrina’s economic impact by $9 Billion. In Texas, the flash floods were the deadliest inland flooding event in the U.S. in nearly 50 years and also set a speed-of-rise record for inland flash floods.

Over the summer of 2025, high temperatures scorched cities across the Northeast and Midwest. Not only did seven states experience their hottest June yet; the entire Northeast region recorded having the hottest June ever, breaking records that were previously set in 2021 and 2024.

The driving factor? Climate change.

Extreme damage caused by storms and the uptick of natural disasters such a such as wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes can all be explained by the climate crisis. Record-shattering temperatures, unusually long dry seasons, and powerful winds guarantee catastrophic wildfire seasons every year. The combination of intense rainfall and warm ocean and atmospheric temperatures trigger floods and hurricanes. And although the link between climate change and earthquakes is less direct, the stress on faults between tectonic plates are worsened by water-related extreme weather events, meaning that the increased frequency of heavy rainfall that causes flooding and hurricanes can influence the magnitude of earthquakes.

From the land to the ocean, no corner of the earth is shielded from the climate crisis. The planet’s air and waters have never been this warm, and as humans continue to burn fossil fuels that release harmful greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, the globe will only get hotter and hotter.

The Socioeconomic Impact of Climate Change

It is important to point out how the actions of heavy polluters such as the United States and other industrialized and enriched nations exacerbate the damage and suffering caused by climate change in emerging countries. A study from Nature Climate Change found that two-thirds of global warming is attributable to the wealthiest 10% around the world. Here at home, those who reside in under-resourced communities and regions often bear the brunt of environmental damages and natural disasters caused by climate change due to inequitable policies and infrastructure.

Washingtonians just experienced and witnessed historic levels of torrential rain and flooding that shut down roads, destroyed homes, and forced tens of thousands to evacuate. Statewide, nearly 400,000 lost power, over 600 residents were rescued, at least two levees failed, and one person lost their life.

Those living in rural communities and near floodplains endured the worst of December’s storms. In a matter of hours, residents suddenly found themselves tens of thousands of dollars in debt, without their belongings, displaced and burdened with a long and expensive road to recovery. Within those communities, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), those living below the federal poverty threshold, individuals with disabilities, immigrants, and other underrepresented groups will experience a disproportionate number of barriers in their recovery journey.

What a Warmer Globe Means for Seattle