Sixteen years to the date that Hurricane Katrina first hit Louisiana, Category 4 Hurricane Ida has made landfall on the Gulf Coast, leaving residents stranded in their homes, facing upwards of 6 weeks with no power, hospitals damaged or running on back-up power, and a wave of our family members, friends, and loved ones displaced and seeking safety just days after a shameful end to the federal moratorium on evictions. In the wake of the George Floyd protests, we saw corporations of all kinds claiming publicly to care about Black lives. But the fact is, it’s moments like these that let us know which corporations are actually willing to put their money where their values are. That's why we're calling on hotel chains to house hurricane survivors at no cost.

As people struggle to survive for the next month, or more, without electricity, to make hard decisions about if, when, and how they can leave the parts of the region hit hardest by the storm, and to make plans that will minimize their exposure to COVID-19 in a region already experiencing a surge in the deadly Delta variant, we need hotel chains and major online lodging rental platforms to step up and provide housing for residents along the Gulf Coast who have been displaced by Hurricane Ida.

The crisis unfolding in Louisiana is the result of decades of mismanagement of federal funding, the systematic defunding of public goods, and the government’s willingness to prioritize profit over Black people’s lives. Hospitals that were already strained are dealing with outages themselves, as well as a surge of patients with storm-related injuries. With lingering dangers like down power lines, unsafe roads and bridges, severely damaged homes across the region, and the risk of COVID-19 spreading at community shelters, we need decisive action from the corporations that claim to believe Black lives matter. Let hotel chains and online lodging rental platforms know they must come up with a plan to house those displaced by Hurricane Ida immediately.

Here is the Petition:

In the wake of the worst hurricane event the Gulf Coast has seen since Hurricane Katrina, we are calling on you to house people who have been displaced by Hurricane Ida immediately at no cost. Right now, thousands of people in Louisiana are stranded in their homes, over a million are without power, and hospitals that were already strained by a high COVID-19 patient caseload are now contending with physical damage, power outages, and a surge of patients with storm-related injuries.

From Flint to New Orleans, predominantly Black cities have been experiencing the results of intentional disinvestment in the infrastructure our communities need to stop, slow, or respond to climate disaster for decades. We know that no one is going to experience the consequences of the impact of this storm more directly than Black people, who, because of the decisions of corporations and the government, are the most likely in this moment to be houseless or unable to afford to evacuate the states’ most dangerous zones.

Following the George Floyd protests last summer, we saw corporations of all kinds claiming publicly to care about Black lives. Right now, you have the chance to be a corporate leader, and to demonstrate your commitment to putting your money where your values are. With lingering dangers like down power lines, unsafe roads and bridges, severely damaged homes across the region, and the risk of COVID-19 spreading at community shelters, we need decisive action from the corporations that claim to believe Black lives matter. That’s why we’re calling on you to provide free housing to those displaced by Hurricane Ida, today.