Scientist Wallace J. Nichols evacuated twice in just one year. The first time was due to a wildfire, and recently it was due to an atmospheric river that brought heavy rain that threatened to bring mudslides and debris flow to the burn-scarred area.
What You Need To Know
- At least 85% of the world’s population has been affected by human-induced climate change, a new study shows
- Increasingly extreme weather from climate change is now a year-round phenomenon. This has homebuilders reconsidering how they design and power new homes, and how to take them off the grid
- Roughly 35 million homes, or nearly a third of the nation’s housing stock, are at “high risk” of a natural disaster, according to a new study by CoreLogic
- Jupes are dwelling units that can be transportable and function off the power grid. The company just raised $9.5 million in seed funding
“It’s disastrous either way. Weather is changing and we have to be smart and nimble and creative," said Nichols.
Nichols learned this firsthand last year, after evacuating from the CZU Complex Fire, only to return to find his home and everything in it gone.
“Nothing left, just a pile of metal and rock," he said.
Instead of rebuilding a traditional house, he now dwells in a series of experimental modular tent homes covered in tarps.
“Instead of one house with a bunch of bedrooms, it’s a bunch of bedrooms, with no house," said Nichols.
Losing his house to wildfire changed his perspective on the meaning of home. Now, it is about adaptation and being mobile — leaving on short notice when disaster strikes.
“Losing everything you own is not something I ever want to experience again," said Nichols.
Just this past summer alone, nearly one in three Americans lived in a county hit by a weather disaster. As vulnerability to climate change grows, tents called Jupes are one potential housing solution.
The tents are mobile, solar-powered and equipped with a mattress. Jupe’s founder Jeff Wilson said the concept is helpful for people displaced by climate change.
“I think there’s potential to put Jupes in all of these places where the wildfires have come through and devastate the land and allow people to come back onto it and enjoy it," said Wilson.
Next up for Nichols is another Jupe that is equipped with a kitchen and bathroom. It is how he is adapting while dealing with the heartbreak of loss.
“Change can be scary or it can be an adventure, and I think we have chosen the adventure route," he said.
When Spectrum News spoke to Nichols, a storm was approaching.
“They’re saying up to 50 mile per hour winds. So that’s the kind of wind that’s going to throw dead trees all over the place," he said.
Nichols was standing in a beach lot, a place where he could take the packed-up Jupes and wait it out until it was safe to return home.
“That’s kind of our thinking. How do we manage the future and the uncertainty that all this extreme weather brings? And that’s the plan," said Nichols.
For Nichols, the old way of living no longer makes sense, so he is adapting to a new way of life as the climate changes around him.