Recovery Is Adaptation: Rebuilding After Wildfire
In this special episode of America Adapts (261), host Doug Parsons explores an often-overlooked part of climate adaptation: what happens after disaster strikes. Through the recovery from the Los Angeles wildfires, Doug talks with disaster recovery experts, a community leader who survived the fires, and researchers examining remediation, rebuilding, worker safety, and the risks faced by immigrant workers involved in cleanup. The episode also looks to Christchurch, New Zealand, where more than fifteen years of earthquake recovery offers important lessons for the adaptation sector about recovery and renewal. The central argument: recovery is adaptation. How we clean up, protect people, rebuild communities, and prepare for what comes next is every bit as much climate adaptation as preparing before disaster strikes. This episode was generously supported by the CO2 Foundation and its innovative investment in climate adaptation communications.
Experts in this Episode:
Maryam Zar — Founder & President, Palisades Recovery Coalition - Transcript
Dr. Laurie Johnson, FAICP — Principal, Laurie Johnson Consulting; internationally recognized urban planner specializing in disaster recovery and catastrophe risk management. - Transcript
Dr. Michael Méndez — Associate Professor of Environmental Policy and Planning and Chancellor’s Fellow, University of California, Irvine - Transcript
Abby Ross — Founder & CEO, The Resiliency Company - Transcript
Dr. Erica Seville — Commissioner, Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake; co-founder of Resilient Organisations and disaster recovery/resilience researcher. - Transcript
Memorable Quotes from This Episode
Maryam Zar
“Are we going to come together and think about a purposefully, resiliently built community that can withstand the next fire? Or are we just going to build back if we can?”
Dr. Laurie Johnson
“A disaster, in my opinion, unfolds over time, and the process of recovery is really about addressing that uncertainty and trying to bring certainty to all the various actors in the recovery process.”
Dr. Michael Méndez
“These wildfires, droughts, and other hazards are gonna continue to increase with our changing environment, and we need to prepare and adapt our communities. And with that, we need to have a workforce that is trained and provided with a living wage.”
Abby Ross
“There’s a series of what does it mean when urban communities burn and how we go about the relief, recovery, and long-term rebuilding process that is fundamentally different from years before that we have to be able to adapt to.”
Dr. Erica Seville
“We actually had the opportunity to make some big choices that helped the city in the long term to actually become a better city after the event rather than just rebuilding what was.”
Recovery Is Adaptation Framework
1. Recovery begins when the hazard ends — Laurie Johnson
A disaster unfolds over time. The fire going out doesn't mean the disaster is over; it begins a long period of uncertainty, coordination, cleanup, and rebuilding.
2. Recovery must start with the community — Maryam Zar
Rebuilding isn't just replacing structures. Communities need a voice in deciding what comes back, what changes, and what resilience should look like.
3. Protect the people doing the recovery — Michael Méndez
Recovery depends on workers, and resilience cannot be built by exposing those workers—especially vulnerable immigrant and day laborers—to new risks.
4. Connect cleanup to rebuilding — Abby Ross
Remediation, financing, insurance, construction, and resilience shouldn't operate as separate systems. Cleanup itself is part of adaptation.
5. Rebuild for the next disaster, not the last one — Erica Seville
Recovery creates a rare opportunity to reconsider where and how we build. Christchurch shows that recovery can become renewal and leave a community more resilient—and even better—than before.
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