Natural Disasters Are Primary Reason Island Areas Residents Moved

Because of their unique climate and location, Island Areas are at increased risk for severe weather, including tropical storms, typhoons and hurricanes – and that’s a major reason residents moved from 2015 to 2020. Between 2015 and 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared major disasters in all four U.S. Island Areas — American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). During this five-year period, from a quarter to nearly a half of their residents moved to a new residence, according to recently released 2020 Census of the Island Areas tables.