CDP Tornado Recovery Fund

Known as “nature’s most violent storms,” the U.S. is home to more tornadoes than any other country.

Since the beginning of 2024, more than 1,300 confirmed tornadoes in states such as Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and even places like New York and Maryland have caused destruction across many communities. The number of storms in 2024 is second only to 2010 and is nearing record levels. Fall typically brings an uptick in severe thunderstorms and tornadoes across parts of the South, so more tornadoes are expected before the year ends.

Some communities that experienced tornadoes were already struggling to recover from the damage caused by other storms, like hurricanes and floods. This has left people vulnerable and needing medium-and long-term support for recovery.

CDP has been active in tornado recovery since our founding. With the recent increase in tornadoes, there is no longer a “tornado season,” and the historical Tornado Alley stretching across the United States is growing larger.

CDP’s Tornado Recovery Fund allows donors to target their contributions to meet specific medium- and long-term philanthropic goals for communities affected by tornadoes in the United States.

(Photo: Tornado damage in St Bernard Parish, Louisiana on March 23, 2022. (Source: NOLAReady via Twitter)

Tornadoes do not discriminate when they strike, but recovery is often unbalanced and more challenging for marginalized populations. This fund supports initiatives prioritizing communities devastated by tornadoes, especially those facing systemic barriers to equitable recovery.

To effectively address the growing tornado threat across the country, CDP’s team of experts works directly with local nonprofits to identify specific needs and gaps in funding.

Examples of areas likely to be funded include but are not limited to rebuilding homes and livelihoods, mental health services, and other challenges identified by communities that arise as recovery efforts progress.

This fund supports these disasters:

Priority funding focus areas

Tornadoes often affect geographic areas where the norm is sub-standard housing, generational housing, and uninsured and under-insured homes occupied by older adults, low-income earners, and traditionally marginalized and racialized populations. Some are homeowners, but many are also renters.

These disasters often receive much less media attention and, as a result, fewer resources for recovery. Communities prone to tornadoes often struggle with the profound trauma of layered disasters against a backdrop of lifelong experiences of struggling economically or socially because of intersecting factors that have caused marginalization.

This fund will prioritize:

Funding for Black- and women-led organizations that have built or can build trust networks with survivors needing recovery assistance.
Advocating for and providing affordable housing, housing repair and utility support, especially for low-income homeowners or renters in communities of color.
Building response capacity and improving infrastructure to mitigate risks to the most marginalized communities affected.
Investing in equitable and holistic disaster case management programs to equip local communities that have limited resources and low organizational capacity with the means and tools for disaster recovery. These programs strengthen a community’s local resources and its ability to provide culturally and contextually appropriate case management services to its people.

Your support has a direct and significant impact on our efforts to minimize the effect of tornadoes through thoughtful, equitable and responsible recovery for all.

Support this Fund

Connect with us

For more information on the situation and to learn about available resources, contact Sally Ray, Director, Domestic Funds. To make a gift or learn more about the Fund, please contact our Development Team. (Photo: Urban Search & Rescue teams are in Mayfield, Kentucky supporting local responders and conducting search and rescue missions. Photo credit: Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas via Twitter)