The Search for Climate Safety
By Jenna James
It was a wild and chaotic day spent getting my friend Tess, who is staying in Montana right now (at a home without reception), safely out of an immediate fire zone. Evacuations were in place and the road leading to where she's staying was engulfed in flames as winds quickly turned a 300 acre fire into a 12,000 acre fire with little notice, forcing a backroad escape with somebody else's two cats in tow after immense dedication obtaining them.
It took more than a handful of people to coordinate their safe arrival to Missoula and I have so much gratitude for all those who helped make it happen. Because the fire marshal shut down access headed in, she had to rally for a natural disaster she is not used to being exposed to alone in unfamiliar territory. Thankfully the experience ended with everyone safe and sound in my home in a mix of my pjs with moments of closeness and a mixed bag of smiles and tears while we all worked to process and unpack all that had happened so quickly. But the unfortunate reality is we are all going to be navigating these growing disasters more and more often.
As I'm heading to a medical appointment out of state, I keep having to reroute my path because of wildfires and floods. And time spent trying to find a home in a state free from wildfire smoke as someone disabled to get to safer grounds for my health keeps coming up empty, forcing me to realize such a location has become an illusion.
I’m hoping that those in Montana and other parts of the nation and world navigating climate crisis are able to find safety and eventually resettle back into what is often a drastically altered community. There are so many lost in these growing disasters. And here's hoping for safe travels through a variety of natural disasters, myself. (Another medical appointment has been pushed back because of unsafe access due to climate disasters.)
We are past the point of discussion and inactivity when so many are fleeing their homes and communities are forced to navigate slow government response and people are being denied safe access to necessary medical care. If you have the health and funds, please help communities in crisis and vote and act accordingly. We must rally together in these times across demographics and countries.
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Jenna James is a disabled activist and crip doula who has lived in Missoula for 23 years. Her work in Montana is based in intersectional outreach education and acute trauma response advocacy work. While the majority of her last three years have been primarily focused on establishing medical care and access for several complex autoimmune conditions that have been severely impacted by Long Covid complications since early 2020, she also uses her experience as a queer disabled woman as a platform to help others.
