The recent waves of hurricanes have brought much destruction, dumping more than 27 trillion gallons of water onto Texas and Louisiana – in a one-in-1,000-years flood - and Maria ravaged through an already Irma-impacted Puerto Rico, where more than half of the island still remains without drinking water.

People in the American South, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Caribbean are still struggling to cope with the aftermath of the devastating natural disasters of the past 2 months. As families are facing the very real human cost of these crises, law enforcement is contending with another concern rising in this climate of displacement and human suffering: human trafficking.

Hurricane Irma alone drove 34,000 people to seek refuge in Lee County of Southwest Florida. Hurricane Harvey impacted as many as 13 million people from 50 countries across Texas and Louisiana, forcing more than 30,000 people from their homes. Puerto Rican authorities report over 10,000 people in shelters, whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Maria.

Vulnerability to human trafficking is exasperated by this displacement of the masses. Traffickers try to lure displaced victims with offers of jobs, and typical red flags are offers that claim to provide housing or food.

Minal Patel Davis, special adviser to the Mayor of Houston on human trafficking, explains, “as long as you’re displaced, anyone who can offer to take care of your basic needs can potentially take advantage of you. As long as we’re still rebuilding, there is potential for labor trafficking.”

This cycle is not unique to these recent natural disasters. 2006 oversaw more than 600,000 households destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and the later abuse of the H2B visa program during reconstruction led to several incidences of worker abuse and labor trafficking of guest workers. 2010’s Tropical Storm Matthew led to the loss of homes for over 1.4 million people in Haiti, and children left without family were especially at risk to sexual violence and forced labor.

The rise of sex trafficking is apparent by the spike in the number of online ads in post-Harvey Houston. Ads on backpage.com more than doubled from the 150 average to 350 in a single day.

Houston Mayor Turner has goals for a robust and long-term labor and sex trafficking prevention plan in the City, which will include an executive order ensuring that the City engages in safe labor contracting practices and increased tracking of online ads, particularly those targeting children. The mayor is currently focused on a short-term human trafficking response to Harvey, in which Houston's anti-trafficking team displayed information in the monitors and screens of shelters and immediately distributed “cot notes” at the George R. Brown Convention Center and NRG Center after the storm, detailing what potential traffickers might say to people they are targeting.

[Please save and share the National Human Trafficking Resource Center's confidential hotline

1-888-373-7888

where potential trafficking cases can be reported.]

This critical time of great human suffering, experienced by those in areas ravaged by this recent storm of hurricanes and disaster, demands our immediate attention and swift action. As we provide aid to sustain human life and reunite families, we must also be sure to closely oversee the process of restoration to mitigate vulnerability and risks of exploitation. Human life is on the line.