Striving to remove barriers that prevent us from building Vibrant, Diverse, Inclusive, Accessible Communities!
Two wheelchair users, a father who had lost a limb and his son with cerebral palsy, died in their Los Angeles home on January 8, 2025, as several wildfires broke out, still waiting for someone to get them out. Two days later a woman described as bedridden died from smoke and burns. Julia Métraux reports for Mother Jones that they were three of many. Research shows that People with Disabilities are two to four times as likely to die when climate disasters strike, in part because disabled and older people are less likely to have cars. Of the 102 people killed when wildfires swept through Lahaina, Hawaii, in 2023, two thirds were at least 60.
These deaths were not inevitable. They come from gaps left by local governments and emergency services. A 2019 audit of disaster planning in California found major failures in county evacuation efforts and in the limited oversight by the state. None of the three counties audited, all hit by serious wildfires, had worked out what accessible transportation and shelter people would need, and none had brought in community representatives. In 2020 the legislature required the Office of Emergency Services to review at least 10 local emergency plans a year. Los Angeles County still offers little public information on how it will get people out, and asks people to line up rides ahead of time.
That leaves neighbors to step in. Marcalee Alexander, a physician and president of Sustain Our Abilities, a nonprofit on climate change and disability, created the Day for Tomorrow, a yearly event where neighbors gather and learn who on the street might require a ride or other assistance. Granny Ruth Robertson of the San Francisco Bay Area Raging Grannies urges people to knock on doors and check on elders, above all when the power goes out, since outages can kill disabled and older people.
People with Disabilities know what they need in an emergency, and good planning starts by asking them. Gabrielle Peters, a disabled policy analyst and writer, warns that people assume the Person with a Disability lacks knowledge, when that person may know things that could save everyone. She recommends reaching in: ask about plans a person already has, their medical requirements and their daily routines. Sheri Byrne-Haber, a disability advocate and digital accessibility expert in California, says that focusing on the barrier and offering to remove it keeps People with Disabilities from being treated as other. Peters notes that many People with Disabilities live in poverty, so stocking a go bag in advance is out of reach for many, and that plans should come in many forms: checklists, photos, illustrated guides, simple language, and audio for Blind people. That is advocacy any neighbor can practice.
We should get to know our neighbors and ask People with Disabilities what plans they already have before a disaster strikes. We should press our local governments to bring People with Disabilities into emergency planning, with accessible transportation and shelter. Neighbors who listen, learn and solve problems together would move us toward Vibrant, Diverse, Inclusive, Accessible Communities for People with Disabilities.
No one should be left waiting for a ride that never comes.
Read the Full Article: Your Local Government Isn’t Ready to Evacuate Disabled People.
By: Julia Métraux
Questions for Reflection
- Does our local emergency plan say how People with Disabilities without cars will be evacuated?
- Which of our neighbors would need a ride in an emergency, and have we asked them about their plans?
- Are People with Disabilities part of emergency planning in our town?
- Do our emergency instructions come in simple language, audio and other formats?
- What would it take to hold a Day for Tomorrow on our street?
