Layla’s final year of school was disrupted by floods and fires. The toll of climate disasters on children is only getting worse

‘Something that I would have appreciated … was some support’: Layla Wang says she felt a sense of hopelessness when she was evacuated from her home as a teenager due to natural disasters. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Kangaroo Valley was hit by raging fires and floods three times in three years.

In 2019, the black summer bushfires had forced Layla Wang’s family to flee their home. Then in 2022, after floods and landslides isolated the valley, she was trapped there, spending several “stressful” weeks isolated from school – in the middle of year 12, with no access to her classes and limited resources.