"After disasters - natural or otherwise - people with disabilities often find themselves in temporary lodging that offers a roof, but lacks the safe, customized environment they need. This can result in many dangers and difficulties, including leaving people in wheelchairs or who require walkers to spend weeks or months in unfamiliar rental housing with dangerous stairways, rather than accessibility-friendly ramps."
"Still, they might feel relatively lucky given that people with one or more disabilities - a group that includes more than 70 million Americans - are also four times more likely to be critically injured or die in a natural disaster than other people, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Council on Disability. Related Story Amid rent gouging, land speculators and insurance woes, the cost of rebuilding may exceed working people's means."
Wildfires and other disasters force many people with disabilities into temporary housing that lacks necessary accessibility and safety features. Accessible fixtures, ramps and customized supports are often missing in temporary lodging, exposing wheelchair users and those who need walkers to hazardous stairways and prolonged unsafe living conditions. People with disabilities are up to four times more likely to never return home after a natural disaster and also face four times greater risk of critical injury or death during such events. In one Altadena case, a wheelchair user with a prosthetic leg and his son with cerebral palsy called 911 during the Eaton fire; many assisted-living residents remain dispersed months later.
Read at Truthout
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