Wildfires, Earthquakes, and Hurricanes, oh my...

Are people with disabilities ready for a disaster?

Listen to program. 29 min

We talk to Ana-Marie Jones and Tracy Baker of Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disaster (CARD) about how to prepare.

Karla Gilbride, of Disability Rights Advocates, a Berkeley legal non-profit, also talks about their suit against both Oakland and L.A. for their lack disability access in emergency planning. The suit changes Oakland with
* The failure to conduct adequate surveys of the accessibility of potential shelter sites, resulting in a list that contains many inaccessible shelters;
* The failure to revise the City’s Mass Care and Shelter Plan from the 1980s to address the needs of men, women, and children with disabilities;
* The failure to make arrangements to provide prescriptions, medical supplies and equipment, or accessible transportation to people with disabilities in an emergency.

On August 12, the National Council on Disabilities released a Report on Emergency Management sub-titled "Making Improvements for Communities and People with Disabilities." Here's some inclusive planning, except--oops -- they forgot prisons.

We can't ever forget that more and more people with disabilities, especially mental disabilities, are housed in prisons and jails. Many baby boomers live within the enormous U.S. prison-industrial complex and they aren't becoming more able-bodied as the months pass by.

Hosted by John Healy, with tips by Adrienne Lauby.