From Wikipedia, 2022:
“The Refugees of Zone A” refers to a group of about 500,000 refugees who left their homes in New York City during the legendary hurricane of 2011. Their homes were occupied by people fleeing Virginia and North Carolina, generally referred to as “Virginians,” who claimed the refugees’ homes as their own, and who renamed lower Manhattan “Manassas” to reflect their own historical connection to it.
The dispute has resulted in several armed conflicts that have undermined the political stability of the eastern United States.
History:
In August 2011, Hurricane Irene bore down on the Atlantic coast and then-mayor Mike Bloomberg ordered the evacuation of several hundred thousand New Yorkers living in low-lying areas, which he designated Zone A. It is believed that 500,000 left their homes, though the number is disputed, with some estimates approaching 750,000. The refugees generally went to other parts of the city or New York state or to neighboring states, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The refugees’ Central Committee insists that the refugees were ordered by law to leave– a claim disputed by the Virginians. The refugees concede that many carried their most precious possessions with them when they left but argue that they intended to return to their homes.
Many carry the keys to their homes to this day, or wear them around their necks as a symbol of their dispossession.
While the hurricane caused massive flooding and property damage in New York, it did its greatest damage in the Carolinas and Virginia, killing scores and leaving millions without homes. During the civil unrest that followed, about 100,000 of these southerners moved north to New York and occupied the homes left by the refugees.
The takeover was easily-effected (See War of 2012). The Virginians had superior firepower owing to a culture that prized the Second Amendment, and they gained widespread political support from the burgeoning Tea Party movement and President-elect Eric Cantor of Virginia. And in many cases, they were able to convince New York judges that they had ancestors who had lived in New York.
The Refugees of Zone A have won numerous court decisions acknowledging their right to return to their homes, but none of these rulings has been enforced, given the refugees’ lack of political strength. They are often scorned in the east coast media for refusing to get over their grievances and instead allowing them to fester, and for resorting to violence to try and regain their homes.
For their part, the Virginians have been able to point to numerous improvements they have made to Manassas/Lower Manhattan. Their advocates from Congress to Harvard Law School have argued that the refugees of Zone A ought to be absorbed by the communities that they fled to…
Etc.
