In 2023, Hola Cultura investigated how flooding disproportionately afflicts low-income neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., predominantly home to immigrants and people of color.
Several months of reporting led to an in-depth article that Hola Cultura co-published with the Washington City Paper in August 2023. The story exposed who is most vulnerable to flooding in D.C., and how flooding disproportionately affects residents living in D.C.'s floodplains that cut through its two poorest wards. The story was republished in East of the River magazine in September 2023.
The City Paper reporting also provided the foundation for a second season of The Climate Divide in fall 2023, which continued Hola Cultura's reporting on D.C.'s flooding problems and other climate justice issues, such as air pollution, heat islands, and the future of a nearly century-old chemical plant in the heart of one of D.C.’s working-class neighborhoods.
While this reporting project was led by Hola Cultura's professional staff, project contributors included editorial, copy editing, and social media interns in Hola Cultura's SPEL (Storytelling Program for Experiential Learning). Interns contributed to the D.C. flood-risk reporting and produced several related stories published on HolaCultura.com.
