Transcript:
After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, Germán Parodi was part of a team of disabled first responders who went to the island to provide food, water, and other support.
He says even two weeks after the storm, his team found people who had not yet received government or humanitarian aid.
Parodi: “We saw people with disabilities that had lost their durable medical equipment, their wheelchairs, and having to drag themselves to get from point A to point B.”
Today, Parodi is co-director of the nonprofit Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies.
He says people with disabilities often face obstacles at every level during a disaster – from inaccessible emergency alerts to a lack of wheelchair-accessible transportation during evacuations.
Parodi: “Then, in shelters not being accessible, in not providing reasonable accommodations like allowing service animals in.”
So he urges communities to include disabled people in disaster planning efforts to ensure that alerts, transportation, and shelters are accessible – and that people with disabilities can stay safe as climate change brings more extreme weather.
Reporting credit: Elissa Wolfson / ChavoBart Digital Media
