WORDS BY KATIE BREEN AND NICOLA MOYNE76
GalleryFlorida, USA, 2017
‘I arrived in the wake of hurricane Irma. Terrence was there
with his mother Gloria, who he lived with at the time. He looks
like a tough guy, but he was in tears when he walked into his
mother’s house and saw the damage for the first time. He told
me that everything had been destroyed and that they had no
insurance. I learned that he had recently separated from his
wife and children. But, a year later, I contacted him again and
discovered he’d got a new job and had reunited with his wife
and kids. For him, this catastrophe was a life-changing event.’Naogaon,Bangladesh, 2017
‘Malek Mia and his wife, Tahomina, stand in the mud
with their two children and nephew in front of their
house in an area of Bangladesh that used to be rarely
affected by floods. Now, the country is considered to be
the most flood-prone in the world. Climate change, rising
sea levels and more intense cyclone surges have increased
the probability of floods there. Bangladesh’s low-
lying land also means that the water often has nowhere
to go and takes a very long time to drain away.’Bangkok,Thailand, 2011
‘Floods generally appear
gradually in Bangkok, with
the water emerging from
drains very slowly. People
carry on with their lives
amid the chaos and they
seem relatively comfortable
with it. Shops stay open and
people use gas to cook their
meals, with water just inches
below the work top. Here,
Anchalee was part of a
group of migrant workers
that I photographed who
were living on a construction
site because their shacks
had been destroyed. She was
waiting, with her daughter,
for a food relief boat that
was scheduled to bring
supplies and clean water.’n