Hurricanes don’t just hit the coasts — they hit people. They drown neighborhoods, rip families apart, and leave scars that never heal. Katrina killed more than 1,800 people. Maria killed nearly 3,000 in Puerto Rico. Ian killed over 150 in Florida. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 remains the deadliest disaster in U.S. history with up to 12,000 dead.

Since 2000 alone, hurricanes and tropical storms have claimed more than 6,000 American lives and caused over $1 trillion in damage. Every one of those numbers represents someone’s mother, father, child, or friend.

Right now, we don’t have a permanent national day that acknowledges this collective loss. That silence sends a message: that these lives, these families, these communities, don’t matter enough to remember. But they do.

A National Day of Remembrance — fixed on August 29, the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina — would finally give us a way to honor those lost, uplift the survivors, and remind the nation what’s at stake as storms grow stronger in a warming world.

We can’t wait. With every passing year, hurricanes are hitting harder and faster, fueled by climate change. Without action, more lives will be lost, more families shattered, more communities erased. We need this day of remembrance now — not only to honor the past, but to confront the future head-on. Sign and share this petition to demand Congress and the President make August 29 a permanent National Day of Remembrance for Hurricane Victims.