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HURRICANE HORROR

Disabled Residents Hit Hardest By Katrina

Herman Smith III, third from left, who has Down syndrome, is safe with family in Baton Rouge, La., after being evacuated from his home in New Orleans. Before the storm, Smith received services through the Arc of Greater New Orleans, living independently in his own apartment. He and his family are temporarily living with a family friend in Baton Rouge, La. Joy Morgan, Smith’s personal care attendant, seated in front of Smith, said, “Herman is happy. He doesn’t really know what’s goin on. He doesn’t understand that he’s in crisis.” Also with Smith, left to right, are Errol LeBeau, and cousins Bea Keiser and Anthony Morgan.

By Norman Smith
As reports of widespread death, destruction and devastation poured in, the national disability community kicked into high gear to assist people with disabilities in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, who were hit by Hurricane Katrina in late August.
Reports of people dying in their wheelchairs in shelters spurred a conference call among national disability organizations and disability leaders as it became apparent that the concerns of people with disabilities in this disaster needed to be addressed quickly and strongly.
Marcie Roth, executive director and CEO of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, organized leaders from across the disability community and, with the support of Richard Petty of the Independent Living Resource Utilization Project (ILRU), assembled this call on the Friday after the storm.
The problems cited during the call ranged from the treatment of people with disabilities in shelters, to making sure that Louisiana Medicaid is accepted in Texas and other states taking evacuees from New Orleans. The Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) in Mississippi reported people with disabilities being laid on floors of shelters and non-sterile conditions for catheterizations. They further reported difficulties in gaining access to shelters to identify people with disabilities in need.
Mary Troupe, executive director of CCD, said “Another one of my main concerns was and is the availability of accessible shelters and how the evacuees would know where they are. They have no system for this information, and no shelters are truly accessible. Individuals with disabilities need all types of accommodations and these are not being provided.”
The Centers for Independent Living in Biloxi, Miss., and New Orleans were severely impacted by the hurricane, reported the ILRU by email. “The Biloxi center was totally destroyed,” she said.
The tone of the national conference call was to deal with the immediate problems at hand with response and recovery efforts, and to save talk about why emergency planning had failed for people with disabilities for a later time. The goal was to assist people with disabilities to get through the rescue and recovery phase with as much assistance as possible.

Work Groups Set Up

Work groups were set up to focus on first obtaining and channeling financial resources to help people with disabilities, and second, to identify specific ways that individuals and organizations could pledge to provide assistance in the affected areas by way of disability-related expertise and technical assistance.

Homeland Security

The Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities (ICC) met later the same day to spur on a more coordinated response for people with disabilities. The ICC was established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to implement President Bush’s executive order of July 2004 that made it a national priority to include people with disabilities in the emergency preparedness effort. One of the immediate issues addressed by the ICC was getting the evacuees in other states Medicaid coverage.
An information website was established to coordinate disability- specific information. The site, www.katrinadisability. info, was updated periodically as new information was announced. Disability leaders and organizations worked through the Labor Day holiday weekend.
The federal response trickled out during the following week. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services acted to assure that the Medicare, Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Programs will flex to accommodate the emergency health care needs of beneficiaries and medical providers in the Hurricane Katrina devastated states.
Many of the programs’ normal operating procedures were relaxed to speed provision of health care services to the elderly, children and people with disabilities who depend upon them. HUD established a single 800-number to cover all of its seven programs.

NCD Monitors

The National Council on Disability (NCD) issued a statement describing the disaster’s impact on people with disabilities. NCD chairperson Lex Frieden said, “Current data indicates that people with disabilities are now most at risk in this situation and will need recovery assistance for months or years.”
The NCD statement went on to describe the data Frieden had mentioned. The city of New Orleans, with a population of about 484,000 people, had 102,122 people with disabilities. This was nearly 25 percent of the city’s population and did not include children under the age of five or people over the age of 65. In Biloxi, Miss., 26 percent of its 50,000 residents are people with disabilities, not including the youngest or oldest of its citizens.
“The total destruction of the physical environment and public/ private infrastructure and communications systems in the gulf coastal areas affected by Hurricane Katrina has lifethreatening implications for all citizens with disabilities and those without disabilities,” the NCD statement went on to say.
“The disability community is in the midst of a larger crisis – the additional, immediate and long-term needs of survivors with disabilities of all ages remains largely unmet,” said Troupe from Mississippi.

Houston HCIL

Disability organizations in Texas started to respond to the influx of evacuees with disabilities. The Houston Center for Independent Living (HCIL) mobilized to identify evacuees with disabilities from New Orleans.
“HCIL is coordinating and collaborating with other disability/ advocate entities and organizations to maximize our efforts,” said Sandra Bookman, Executive Director of HCIL. “We have set up an on-site disability services information and advocacy table at the George R. Brown Convention center where HCIL staff and disability advocates can be on site to provide advocacy. We have been receiving calls from people who have relocated to Houston requesting information, DME, relocation assistance, etc. We are facilitating calls and emails from around the country, offering assistance and accessible housing if evacuees want to relocate to another state.”

Wheelchairs Delivered

Bookman said that HCIL delivered 124 wheelchairs to the various shelters in Houston. Meanwhile, traditional advocacy issues were not being missed by HCIL. Bookman reported that the planning for a “hope fest” at the Toyota Center did not include provisions for people with disabilities. “They expect 10,000 to 20,000 evacuees,” said Bookman. “Somehow, I guess they thought evacuees with disabilities would not want to come. In any regard, they or the person I talked to doesn’t think that now.”

Hurricane Relief Information

Many Were Affected The National Council on Disability issued an estimate on the number of people with disabilities affected by Hurricane Katrina. In Biloxi, Miss., a city of about 50,000 people, 26 percent of residents are people with disabilities. This means that there are 10,700 people with disabilities . In Mobile, Ala., a city of Several agencies and groups have established disability specific Katrina Relief Funds to receive donations from the public. How to Donate Supplies Louisiana Website Hurricane Relief Information Many Were Affected 198,915 people, 24 percent of the residents are people with disabilities. Therefore there were 43,000 people with disabilities five years of age and older.In New Orleans, La., a city of about 484,000 people, 23.2 percent of residents are people with disabilities. There were 102,122 people with disabilities five years of age and older who lived in New Orleans. How to Donate Supplies Ship DME and Supplies (not cash) to Paul Timmons, Katrina Disability Relief, 4900 Lewis Road, Stone Mountain, Ga. 30083, 843 817-2651 Guidelines for Shipping Anything mechanical needs to be working. Boxes need to have inventory listed both in indelible marker on outside and a list on the top of the interior. Clothes need to be clean and appropriate for the environment. Please be helpful- don’t send junk. Those who want proof of their donation for tax purposes, must include name and full address. Louisiana Website A website has been formed by the Louisiana Disability Information Resource providing information and links for people with disabilities and their families who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. The website has information on disability programs, employment, financial resources, medical and assistance equipment, relief and national organizations, where friends and family members are, to request and/or offer assistance, how you can help, and other news. The website is at www.ladir.org or can be accessed via the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities website at www.njddc.org.

On a Roll Host Needs Help Greg Smith, the host of a nationally syndicated radio program focusing on disability was put out of his home by Hurricane Katrina. He and his family are safe but in need of help. Their home in Ocean Springs, Miss. is standing, but took four feet of water and mostly everything is damaged. Smith, who had muscular dystrophy is getting settled in an Ohio assisted living facility nearby his children until he is able to return to his home. The cost of this facility is $1,500/month, so that is a challenge he is facing. Other primary issues are replacing his van and making sure he has clothes to wear to his upcoming speaking engagements. Anyone who can offer specific assistance may email helpstrengthcoach@yahoo.com and describe the type of help available.