http://www.portlight.org/are-you-ready/
Portlight Strategies is coordinating a national blog-a-thon on emergency planning and prevention issues of people with disabilities. Each day for the next week, I'll be publishing information and commentary on these issues as part of Portlight's effort.
We got a wake up call this last winter especially in the large area of the southern peninsula that underwent the ice storm in mid-December. Staff and friends were without power for up to 10 days, and all rooms, not just accessible ones, in local hotels were filled by mid morning of the day after the storm. We ended up using our accessible office to supplement individual efforts to cope because for whatever reason, the office still had power.
The struggle of the local disability community told us that emergency planning and prevention had to be a part of the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition mission. We have begun working with local and regional organizations to more deeply integrate disability issues into general emergency planning efforts, all of which are being updated because of this last winter. We are also looking into beefing up our office emergency response capability with a building wide generator, air mattresses, short term food supply, and similar infrastructure changes. We will also be asking ourselves hard questions about the realities of implementing emergency preparedness in an actiual emergency as part of our collaboration.
Portlight has asked that the hashtag #ruready be used on all blog posts that focus on emergency response of people with disabilities. If you wish to participate, check out the URL at the beginning of this post.