The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills

Chapter 6 examines how natural disasters like the Chicago heat wave of 1995 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 temporarily brought the hidden struggles of high-poverty neighborhoods into the public eye, exposing the underlying social inequities.

During the 1995 Chicago heat wave, temperatures soared to record highs, causing severe strain on the city’s infrastructure. Emergency services were overwhelmed as hospitals—particularly those serving the poorest communities— became overcrowded. Over 700 people died, primarily in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. Many victims were elderly, isolated, and lived in poorly- ventilated homes. The inadequate housing and social isolation aggravated the disaster’s impact.

Ansell points to the fact that Chicago’s lack of emergency measures, such as cooling centers and door-to-door checks in high-risk areas, revealed a failure to protect its most vulnerable residents. As the death toll rose, city officials deflected blame onto the victims, arguing that these deaths were due to natural causes or neglect by the individuals themselves, rather than addressing the systemic issues that had left them so vulnerable.

Nevertheless, Steve Whitman, an epidemiologist with the Chicago Department of Health, conducted a detailed analysis of the heat wave deaths. His investigation revealed that the mortality rate was significantly higher in Black neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. Whitman’s work illustrated the role of social factors like racism and poverty in these deaths, rather than attributing them solely to individual frailty.