Evacuee Crisis

The Evacuee Crisis refers to the displacement of civilians in Republic City following the events of the Invasion of the United Republic of Nations by Kuvira. Many civilians had their homes destroyed or had to leave them to avoid the danger of the invasion and were forced to live in camps in Republic City. Zhu Li Moon and the Air Nation worked to help provide housing and food to the civilians in the city, for which they received support and funding from President Raiko.
== History ==
=== Prelude ===
After the Earth Kingdom collapsed in 171 AG, Kuvira begun attempting to unite the kingdom once more under the flag of the Earth Empire. After conquering most of the Earth Kingdom once more, she invaded Republic City with her full military and a large mecha suit equipped with a spirit energy cannon. Prince Wu and Pema led an evacuation effort, allowing most of the city's civilians to escape the fighting in the city. Throughout the course of the battle, Kuvira's mecha suit and other military units caused a massive amount of property damage. The fighting was only ended by the spirit energy cannon breaking, resulting in a large explosion and the creation of the Republic City spirit portal.
=== Creating an evacuee camp ===
In the weeks following the end of the invasion, a temporary evacuee camp was created on a grassy field nearby Republic City. The space was lined with yellow tents for the evacuees to stay in; food was shipped from Ba Sing Se regularly to be prepared for the evacuees in need. Zhu Li was in charge of receiving these deliveries and gathering volunteers to help cook and distribute the food, these volunteers largely being Varrick or members of the Air Nation. In addition to food volunteers, Kya and other waterbenders were volunteer healers for any civilians who had been injured in the events of the invasion.
Upon Korra's return from her vacation with Asami Sato, she and the businesswoman visited the evacuee camp to help volunteer. As she arrived, Tenzin, Kya, and other members of the Air Nation greeted the two. Tenzin told Korra that Zhu Li had taken leadership of the camp during the crisis and that Raiko had been of no help, having not even visited the camp. Asami asked what she and Korra could do to help, and Kya said it might be helpful if Korra visited the evacuees, and Asami elected to stay behind and help Zhu Li do some practical work.
Korra walked around the camp, as many evacuees ran up to greet her. Korra apologized for their circumstances and asked the evacuees if there was anything she could do to help them, and many of them quickly flooded her with requests for help with tasks like heating tea, or finding lost dogs. Overwhelmed, Korra created a pillar and gave a speech to the evacuees and promising that she would work her hardest to make sure the evacuees would get permanent housing.
Korra, Asami, and Zhu Li met with Raiko to request funding for a project to build housing for evacuees. Raiko was initially reluctant to support the project, as he was already spending the extra money to move the government offices and hire new police officers. However, Asami and Zhu Li reminded him that Future Industries and Varrick Global Industries could contribute money toward the cause, and Raiko's campaign manager suggested it may be a good way to court favor with voters; thus, Raiko agreed to fund the project.
=== Construction on new housing begins ===
Construction on the housing project began shortly after the meeting with Raiko, and Asami Sato estimated construction could be complete within a few months. As the two discussed, Raiko began speaking to some concerned evacuees about the project. He estimated they could be able to move into the new housing in only one month and promptly dubbed the project "Raiko Residencies". Zhu Li and Asami Sato attempted to voice concerns with him, Zhu Li telling him he should not make promises he would be unable to keep and Asami protesting the name of the project, as she and Zhu Li had pitched the project to Raiko rather than the other way around. Raiko suggested to the evacuees that Korra had been responsible for the destruction that had lost them their homes, causing Asami Sato to angrily call him a coward and insist it was his fault for retreating when Kuvira attacked the city. Heading back to her office, Asami suggested that Tenzin run against Raiko. Tenzin instead said that he thought Zhu Li would make a better candidate due to the leadership she had shown with the evacuees.
The following evening, Zhu Li, Varrick, Tenzin, and Kya stood at the food tents as a line of evacuees angrily questioned where the food they had been missing all day was. Zhu Li responded that she believed it would be there soon, as Raiko had promised the food from Ba Sing Se would move through customs rapidly. Zhu Li remarked that earlier Raiko had appeared to have the evacuees interest at heart, but it was clearly only to suit his own needs so people would vote for him. As she took a break from controlling the line, she questioned if perhaps she should run for President, an idea to which Varrick agreed and offered to pledge his support.
In the coming days, Zhu Li publicly announced her run for president in the Republic City newspapers. She was immediately more popular among voters due to her presence among the evacuees, in contrast to Raiko's poor reputation following his surrender to Kuvira. In an attempt to appeal to voters, Raiko cracked down on the Air Nation protests of his occupation at the portals, while Zhu Li, many of her supporters, and a film crew began to join the Air Nation in their protest. As Tokuga attacked the portal, Zhu Li's efforts in ensuring safety for Republic City's civilians gave her favor over Raiko, who had fled during the assault, and ultimately led to her election as the second president of the United Republic of Nations.
== References ==
de:Wohnungskrise in Republica
es:Crisis de Evacuados
Category:A to Z
Category:Events
Category:Legend of Korra