August 3, 2023 • 23 mins
Natural disasters can happen anywhere and to anyone – they don’t discriminate. But when the power is out, transportation is limited, or you are isolated from others – it can be detrimental to the disability community. We are here with Logan Perkes, from Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA, to talk about how FEMA can help people with disabilities and how we can prepare in case of said disasters.
Guest:
- Logan Perkes, Management Analyst | Portfolio Disability Integration Specialist
FEMA Region 6 | Texas Integration and Recovery Office
Helpful Links:
- People with Disabilities | Ready.gov
- Emergency Preparedness for Arkansans with Functional and Access Needs - Arkansas Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities – Resource with Video and Checklists in English, Spanish, and Marshallese
- Find a CERT | Ready.gov (fema.gov)
- Emergency Management Coordinators - Arkansas Department of Public Safety – ADEM Area Coordinators
- DRA Emergency Preparedness Toolkit
Contact DRA
- Subscribe to our newsletter
- Stay connected
- Show your support
- Email us at info@disabilityrightsar.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lani Jennings-Hall (00:12):
At Disability Rights, Arkansas, we
are focused on guidance forpeople with disabilities on how
to navigate your rights, thingsthat help with your everyday
life, and how to navigate thecomplex systems of how to get
the support you need. In thispodcast, Including You, we bring
that information directly toyou, the listener on things like
accessibility questions, careerand care, and even the nuances
(00:35):
of love life with a disability.
Everyone has the right to knowtheir rights, everyone,
including you.
I'm your host, LaniJennings-Hall. Natural disasters
can happen anywhere and toanyone, they don't discriminate.
But when the power is out, ortransportation is limited, or
when you're isolated fromothers, it can be detrimental
(00:56):
for the disability community. Weare here with Logan Perkes from
Federal Emergency ManagementAgency, or FEMA, to talk about
how FEMA can help people withdisabilities and how we can
prepare in case of setdisasters. Logan, thank you so
much for joining me today onincluding you.
Logan Perkes (01:11):
Thank you so much for having me.
Lani Jennings-Hall (01:14):
Yeah, so Logan can you tell us just a
little bit about yourself andyour role at FEMA?
Logan Perkes (01:20):
Yeah, so I'd love to. So again, my name is Logan
Perkes, and I'm a DisabilityIntegration Specialist for FEMA
Region six, and FEMA Region sixcovers, of course, Arkansas,
also Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma,and New Mexico. I work in
(01:41):
emergency preparedness forpeople with disabilities. And
then I also deploy and respondwhen there's a federally
declared disaster. I also havepersonal experience, I became
disabled as a child. And so Iuse that lived experience to
make me better at my job. So Iknow what it's like to see
(02:04):
general advice out there that'sgiven to people with
disabilities during disastersand kind of get frustrated,
because I feel like it doesn'talways apply to me. So for
example, where I live, weoccasionally get extreme winter
weather. And so it's here on thenews to shut off your water so
(02:26):
that your pipes don't freeze.
But for me, that would beincredibly difficult, because
you have to do that outside yourhouse. And I remember I went and
I bought the tool that you needto shut off the water. And I can
only use one hand and I wasthinking, There's no way that I
can do this by myself. So Ithink there's still the
assumption and advice given inthe emergency management
(02:50):
community, that most people areable bodied and have the ability
to do all of the recommendationsthat they provide. And that is
how I became passionate aboutemergency management.
Lani Jennings-Hall (03:05):
I really think that's a great point, just
general thoughts to come out,oh, hey, you can do this? Or
hey, shelter in place here orwhy don't you just evacuate to
this location when that may notbe possible? If there's not
those accommodations in place,can you talk maybe a little bit
(03:25):
about how FEMA is able tosupport people with disabilities
in these kinds of instances?
Logan Perkes (03:32):
Sure, FEMA, we have an office of disability
integration and coordination.
And that Office supports theentire agency, and it provides
guidance to support disastersurvivors and programs. That
includes any housing mission, ifpeople who've been impacted by a
disaster, need housing fromFEMA, or any grant assistance
(03:55):
that individuals or nonprofitsgovernments may receive from
FEMA. So this office ensuresthat these programs are
factoring in the needs of peoplewith disabilities. We send
advisors who are trained withhelping people with disabilities
to make sure that their needsare being factored in. One of
(04:17):
the things that advisors do isgo out to recovery centers and
make sure that they'reaccessible for people with
disabilities, making sure thatstaff know how to provide
interpreters if anyone who isdeaf needs to access services.
So those are just some examplesof how the Office supports
(04:40):
disaster survivors withdisabilities. And then at the
regional level, I supportpreparedness activities with
community engagement outreach,and so I attend awareness
events, I can lead trainings onpreparedness for people with
disabilities with ease. I alsowork with state and local
(05:01):
partners to include people withdisabilities and emergency
planning and response.
Lani Jennings-Hall (05:08):
So I want to ask just as we were preparing
for this podcast talking abouttrainings, and I really hadn't
thought about this withinnatural disasters, the extreme
heat being one of the bigtrainings that FEMA is doing
right now.
Logan Perkes (05:21):
Yes, on certain months, FEMA, a lot of times
we'll highlight at the nationallevel certain topics that are
relevant. Extreme heat, I thinkit's the one for right now. And
obviously, that has a hugeimpact on everyone, people with
disabilities, especially oursand your citizens, and the older
population can bedisproportionately impacted by
(05:44):
heat as well.
Lani Jennings-Hall (05:45):
Man this heat is not playing right now.
Logan Perkes (05:48):
Yes, every year seems to get worse and worse.
And so it's definitely somethingto be aware of. And we'll get
into later some resources forhow to stay aware of things like
heat and other hazards outthere.
Lani Jennings-Hall (06:04):
There's a lot of natural disasters in
Arkansas, flooding, ice storms,how should people with
disabilities plan for thesedisasters?
Logan Perkes (06:14):
The number one thing is to be aware, because if
you don't know what's going on,then it's really hard to plan.
Most of us these days havesmartphones. And so having the
right apps and the most accurateinformation about how dangerous
it is outside gives a warningfor people so they know to stay
(06:35):
hydrated. It's dangerous levelof heat. The FEMA app has
information when there is thefederally declared disaster like
in Arkansas, you can apply forservices through the app, and it
has the locations of thedisaster recovery centers. So
it's just a great one stop shopfor disaster alerts, warnings
(06:59):
and then FEMA services.
Lani Jennings-Hall (07:01):
Here in Arkansas, we do have a lot of
rural communities that may nothave access to some of those
things. Do you have anyrecommendations, maybe for those
without that access?
Logan Perkes (07:10):
If someone doesn't have a smartphone, then they can
watch local television, listento the radio, also ask family or
friends, neighbors to keep themupdated, because usually they'll
know someone maybe who has asmartphone or is more interested
in technology. And that isreally a great source of
(07:30):
information. Because I knowsometimes people watch news
maybe in the evening. And sothat's not always the most up to
date information. If things arehappening during the day, I
would say let people know thatyou want to receive that
information. Also, you can signup for alert systems where
(07:51):
they'll notify via text message,
Lani Jennings-Hall (07:54):
Here Greenbrier, I've been impressed
with some of the more localtexts.
Logan Perkes (07:58):
So that's great, because a lot of times the texts
will work even if it's not asmartphone. So that's a great
system that a lot of localgovernments are coming out with
staying aware is just knowingwhat part of the state you're in
and Arkansas, certain parts ofthe state may be impacted by
earthquakes. But other parts ofthe state may be more impacted
(08:19):
by flooding, or tornadoes. Sojust knowing your specific area
will really help you know how toprepare and then knowing based
on your disability, what yourneeds are. So if you're a
wheelchair user, knowing Okay, Ineed to make sure that I take my
(08:40):
transfer board, in case I'mgoing to a shelter because it's
not very likely they're going tohave that. Or if you take life
sustaining medication, make sureyou have that available on your
emergency kit. And then or yourstay at home preparations
recommends flashlights, whichcan work for some people. Like I
(09:01):
said, I can only use one hand.
So I have headlamps or a necklight so that I can still use my
hand. And I find those arehelpful for everybody. Because
you don't want to be holding aflashlight if you don't need to
give it frees up your hands. Sothere's a lot of technology out
there that you can use that Ithink is more user friendly for
(09:21):
people with disabilities.
Preparing is really aboutproblem solving for people with
disabilities. And we do thatevery day. Anyway. So it's just
applying that skill set todisability to emergency
preparedness.
Lani Jennings-Hall (09:38):
You talked about an emergency kit. Do you
have any other recommendationsthat have been helpful for
having to shelter in place?
Logan Perkes (09:46):
Generally, they recommend having maybe five to
seven days worth of water. We'vehad water contamination problems
occasionally from powershutdowns or other natural
disasters. And so they'll have aboil water notice, but to me
that's really challenging. Theycan't lift heavy pots of water.
(10:08):
And so when I buy extra water, Ibuy the individual size water,
even though that's not soconvenient. But I can manage
those easier for myself. It goesback to what is manageable. I
always like to plan for beingalone, even though I don't live
alone. Because you just neverknow you could get separated
(10:32):
from someone in your householdor you could have to separate.
So I like to be able to makesure that if I am alone, that I
can take care of myself.
Lani Jennings-Hall (10:43):
That's a great point. What do you say to
people with disabilities whothink it's too hard to prepare
for something that isn't verylikely to happen?
Logan Perkes (10:53):
I can understand that sentiment, we do get a lot
of warnings, and things don'talways come up if you would
rather be ready if it doeshappen. And like you said, there
were the recent tornadoes inArkansas, and most people that
were impacted, probably didn'texpect that to happen to them.
(11:14):
So you just never know. So Ialways say it's better to be
prepared. Because when youprepare for a disaster, even a
large disaster like anearthquake, or tornado, you're
using skills, and developingplans that you can use for
smaller disasters. So it'sreally not that hard to sit down
(11:39):
with your household members orcaregivers and come up with an
evacuation plan. Write downemergency contact numbers,
decide which person is going tohandle which task in an
emergency. If it's a teen withautism, she can be assigned the
responsibility to help hergrandmother get to a safe spot.
(12:01):
If there's a tornado warning. Itcan be a family activity that
can be made fun, even. There'ssome national preparedness
events. The Great ShakeOut isthe national drill where
everyone in the country preparesfor an earthquake at the same
time. So I think there's ways tomake it more interesting and
(12:23):
fun, and doesn't take a lot oftime. And if you think about it,
we all prepare for disasters andemergencies at school. And at
work. We had fire drills, wethink about our evacuation
plans, we even time ourselves.
And we've turned it intosomewhat of a game. And so I
(12:43):
think if we're doing that atwork in school, why not do it at
home? I think that if we all didthat, it could really go a long
way in terms of safety. And theother thing I found is it's
helped me be more organized. IfI didn't have to leave the house
really quickly. I should haveeverything in one spot. Now I
(13:04):
have all my important documentsin one place. I know where they
are. So when I need them forother things like a doctor's
appointment, I know exactlywhere my insurance card is. It's
in this packet where I haveeverything out so I know where
my passport is, I need to book aflight. So being prepared for
disasters or emergencies isuseful for other situations too.
Lani Jennings-Hall (13:31):
You made a couple of really good points
that I want to touch. You talkabout the tornadoes and your
tornado warnings and having atornado when it definitely would
have been useful. Here I waswith a toddler corralling her
and two senior beagles into acloset trying to make a game of
a tea party underneath themattress because there's a
tornado on the way had I beenprepared and been a little more
(13:53):
organized. I would have knownwe've got this already prepared.
Everyone in the family knowswhere we go and a plan gets you
organized for other things to,making sure your medications,
your important paperwork areavailable. For me my medication
list and all of my contactinformation for all my doctors.
It's in my phone.
Logan Perkes (14:13):
Yes, definitely.
Handwriting things seems oldfashioned, but it does come in
handy.
Lani Jennings-Hall (14:20):
Are there other resources for people with
disabilities to prepare fordisasters?
Logan Perkes (14:25):
Yeah, so I had mentioned earlier the FEMA app,
and it's a great resource forpeople with disabilities. It was
redesigned to make it more userfriendly for people with
disabilities. So it has a lotmore photos and it's written in
plain language so it's moreaccessible for Deaf people and
(14:46):
anyone with a cognitivedisability. It has a lot of
educational information. Sothings you're talking about,
like our awareness campaigns onheat and other types of
awareness campaigns, so peopleLittle can learn about hazards.
Also ready.gov is the mainpreparedness site out there. And
(15:07):
it has a section specific topeople with disabilities, and
for families and also for pets.
It's also good to think aboutyour animals and what you would
do with your animals in anemergency. I have a cat and cats
are harder to corral than dogs.
Usually, a great Arkansasresource is the Governor's
(15:29):
Council on DevelopmentalDisabilities website has an
excellent video aboutpreparedness. And they also have
a checklist that is available inEnglish, Spanish and also
Marshallese. For the largeMarshallese population, they're
in Arkansas, so I highlyrecommend that resource. And
(15:50):
then one last thing that peopleoften don't think of is to
contact their local emergencymanagers, they can reach out to
them and just introducethemselves. If they feel like in
a disaster, they may needspecial assistance because of
their disabilities, they canjust talk to their local office
(16:10):
and find out what resources areavailable or if they have any
advice for them about what theyshould do your best resources or
your local resources.
Lani Jennings-Hall (16:22):
Logan, that's a great point. I also
want to add DRA is working on aresource here for Arkansas as
well. We're creating anemergency preparedness website
resource, it does link to FEMA,and it's got some additional
links as well. We do have videosfrom FEMA that you guys have
released when a natural disasterhas occurred. And then we will
(16:42):
have a form that you can submitall of your emergency
information, your pets, yourcontact information, your
caregivers contact information,your medication printed out and
documented.
Logan Perkes (16:54):
Yeah, that's great. That's good to have a
hardcopy and I also will emailit to myself that way, if I'm
honest, someone else's computer,I can access it via my email.
Lani Jennings-Hall (17:08):
That's great. So what are so common
barriers for people withdisabilities during and after
disasters that you'veexperienced in your line of
work?
Logan Perkes (17:19):
Transportation is always a big one. During a
disaster, people withdisabilities may have more
challenges evacuating,especially if they're wheelchair
users, or they have walkers orother durable medical equipment
they need to take with them, butthey might already struggle with
accessible transportation. Andthen as we know, usually,
(17:42):
transportation options availablearen't on demand. They're
scheduled rides. So that's abarrier that people with
disabilities face. Often peoplewith disabilities have fewer
financial resources, especiallyif they receive SSI benefits,
they're not allowed to save anymoney or have more than $1,000
(18:04):
in their bank account. So ifthey lose all their belongings
in a disaster, they don't have asavings that they can purchase
new things to replace whatthey've lost. And so that's why
it's harder for people with thevery low income with
disabilities to be resilientafter a disaster. And then of
(18:24):
course, people who are haveMedicaid, Medicare, or even
other health insurance programs,it can be hard to get
replacement medications ordurable medical equipment,
national challenge that someother people have to deal with.
FEMA can provide some extrafunding for people with
(18:45):
disabilities to replace items.
We are trained to distribute ourfunds in an equitable way. And
we do have advisors that are outin the field, and then we
partner with the state and localagencies.
Lani Jennings-Hall (19:00):
So one final question. Do you had mentioned
in your introduction that howyou got involved was for
personal experience? That's howyou got into your line of work?
How can people with disabilitiesget involved with emergency
preparedness and response andrecovery?
Logan Perkes (19:18):
That's a great question. Emergency Managers and
agencies are interested to hearfrom people with disabilities
and get our input. And so oneway that people with
disabilities can get involved intheir local communities is by
something called cert. And thatstands for community emergency
(19:40):
response teams. And those arevolunteer programs, where you
are trained in some basic skillsthat if there was ever a
disaster, then your team wouldbe deployed to potentially help
until some responders could getthere for For example, you might
(20:01):
help with search and rescue,disaster mental health, things
like that. It's very empoweringprogram. And it's a welcoming
program, take people of allabilities and skill levels and
interests. So whatever you'reable to contribute, you can
contribute to the CERT teams.
That's one way to get involvedand learn more about emergency
(20:25):
management. And then FEMA hascommittees that are always
seeking members for input onemergency management emergency
preparedness. I'm not sure rightnow of Arkansas, any committees,
but your local city or countyemergency management offices
have local committees that youcould join to provide input, I
(20:49):
think there's a lot ofopportunity out there. And as
you continue to have moredisasters, the interest is going
to keep growing at thegrassroots level, people are
going to become more engaged inthe disability community.
Lani Jennings-Hall (21:09):
Well, and as you said, Who knows better, what
type of change needs to happenin these type of recovery
efforts after a disaster, thenthe people with the lived
experience.
Logan Perkes (21:20):
And there's also the Red Cross, it's always
seeking volunteers. So whenthere is a disaster, you can
provide guidance and advice onassisting people with
disabilities. So there reallyare opportunities, and a lot of
them initially are unpaid, butthen it can lead to paid
opportunities, like working forFEMA, um, a lot of city counties
(21:45):
and states are starting to hirepaid positions in disability and
access some functional need inemergency managers. If you feel
like it's a career that mightinterest you, then I would say
go for it. It's very fulfilling,and it's a good way to start
Lani Jennings-Hall (22:04):
Logan, we really appreciate you joining us
today on Including You andsharing all of this great
information listeners, we willmake sure that we share all of
the links and resources thatLogan has talked about today.
Logan, thank you so much for allof this information today.
Logan Perkes (22:21):
Well, thank you so much for having me. I really
appreciate it.
Lani Jennings-Hall (22:34):
Thank you again Logan for joining me today
on Including You. And thank youlisteners. Disasters don't
discriminate. They hit hard,especially within the disability
community. But that doesn't meanwe can't prepare and respond.
How can we ensure that peoplewith disabilities are better
represented with largeremergency preparedness plans by
making sure people withdisabilities are involved in the
(22:55):
planning on the front end?
At Disability Rights Arkansas weenvision in Arkansas where
people with disabilities areequal members in their
communities and conduct theirlives through self
determination. And as made clearin this podcast can't create
that change without bringingself advocates to the table. If
you are interested in moreinformation, make sure to
(23:15):
subscribe to this podcast andvisit our website. And don't
forget to leave a five starrating and a review.
At Disability Rights, Arkansas, we
are focused on guidance forpeople with disabilities on how
to navigate your rights, thingsthat help with your everyday
life, and how to navigate thecomplex systems of how to get
the support you need. In thispodcast, Including You, we bring
that information directly toyou, the listener on things like
accessibility questions, careerand care, and even the nuances
(00:35):
of love life with a disability.
Everyone has the right to knowtheir rights, everyone,
including you.
I'm your host, LaniJennings-Hall. Natural disasters
can happen anywhere and toanyone, they don't discriminate.
But when the power is out, ortransportation is limited, or
when you're isolated fromothers, it can be detrimental
(00:56):
for the disability community. Weare here with Logan Perkes from
Federal Emergency ManagementAgency, or FEMA, to talk about
how FEMA can help people withdisabilities and how we can
prepare in case of setdisasters. Logan, thank you so
much for joining me today onincluding you.
Logan Perkes (01:11):
Thank you so much for having me.
Lani Jennings-Hall (01:14):
Yeah, so Logan can you tell us just a
little bit about yourself andyour role at FEMA?
Logan Perkes (01:20):
Yeah, so I'd love to. So again, my name is Logan
Perkes, and I'm a DisabilityIntegration Specialist for FEMA
Region six, and FEMA Region sixcovers, of course, Arkansas,
also Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma,and New Mexico. I work in
(01:41):
emergency preparedness forpeople with disabilities. And
then I also deploy and respondwhen there's a federally
declared disaster. I also havepersonal experience, I became
disabled as a child. And so Iuse that lived experience to
make me better at my job. So Iknow what it's like to see
(02:04):
general advice out there that'sgiven to people with
disabilities during disastersand kind of get frustrated,
because I feel like it doesn'talways apply to me. So for
example, where I live, weoccasionally get extreme winter
weather. And so it's here on thenews to shut off your water so
(02:26):
that your pipes don't freeze.
But for me, that would beincredibly difficult, because
you have to do that outside yourhouse. And I remember I went and
I bought the tool that you needto shut off the water. And I can
only use one hand and I wasthinking, There's no way that I
can do this by myself. So Ithink there's still the
assumption and advice given inthe emergency management
(02:50):
community, that most people areable bodied and have the ability
to do all of the recommendationsthat they provide. And that is
how I became passionate aboutemergency management.
Lani Jennings-Hall (03:05):
I really think that's a great point, just
general thoughts to come out,oh, hey, you can do this? Or
hey, shelter in place here orwhy don't you just evacuate to
this location when that may notbe possible? If there's not
those accommodations in place,can you talk maybe a little bit
(03:25):
about how FEMA is able tosupport people with disabilities
in these kinds of instances?
Logan Perkes (03:32):
Sure, FEMA, we have an office of disability
integration and coordination.
And that Office supports theentire agency, and it provides
guidance to support disastersurvivors and programs. That
includes any housing mission, ifpeople who've been impacted by a
disaster, need housing fromFEMA, or any grant assistance
(03:55):
that individuals or nonprofitsgovernments may receive from
FEMA. So this office ensuresthat these programs are
factoring in the needs of peoplewith disabilities. We send
advisors who are trained withhelping people with disabilities
to make sure that their needsare being factored in. One of
(04:17):
the things that advisors do isgo out to recovery centers and
make sure that they'reaccessible for people with
disabilities, making sure thatstaff know how to provide
interpreters if anyone who isdeaf needs to access services.
So those are just some examplesof how the Office supports
(04:40):
disaster survivors withdisabilities. And then at the
regional level, I supportpreparedness activities with
community engagement outreach,and so I attend awareness
events, I can lead trainings onpreparedness for people with
disabilities with ease. I alsowork with state and local
(05:01):
partners to include people withdisabilities and emergency
planning and response.
Lani Jennings-Hall (05:08):
So I want to ask just as we were preparing
for this podcast talking abouttrainings, and I really hadn't
thought about this withinnatural disasters, the extreme
heat being one of the bigtrainings that FEMA is doing
right now.
Logan Perkes (05:21):
Yes, on certain months, FEMA, a lot of times
we'll highlight at the nationallevel certain topics that are
relevant. Extreme heat, I thinkit's the one for right now. And
obviously, that has a hugeimpact on everyone, people with
disabilities, especially oursand your citizens, and the older
population can bedisproportionately impacted by
(05:44):
heat as well.
Lani Jennings-Hall (05:45):
Man this heat is not playing right now.
Logan Perkes (05:48):
Yes, every year seems to get worse and worse.
And so it's definitely somethingto be aware of. And we'll get
into later some resources forhow to stay aware of things like
heat and other hazards outthere.
Lani Jennings-Hall (06:04):
There's a lot of natural disasters in
Arkansas, flooding, ice storms,how should people with
disabilities plan for thesedisasters?
Logan Perkes (06:14):
The number one thing is to be aware, because if
you don't know what's going on,then it's really hard to plan.
Most of us these days havesmartphones. And so having the
right apps and the most accurateinformation about how dangerous
it is outside gives a warningfor people so they know to stay
(06:35):
hydrated. It's dangerous levelof heat. The FEMA app has
information when there is thefederally declared disaster like
in Arkansas, you can apply forservices through the app, and it
has the locations of thedisaster recovery centers. So
it's just a great one stop shopfor disaster alerts, warnings
(06:59):
and then FEMA services.
Lani Jennings-Hall (07:01):
Here in Arkansas, we do have a lot of
rural communities that may nothave access to some of those
things. Do you have anyrecommendations, maybe for those
without that access?
Logan Perkes (07:10):
If someone doesn't have a smartphone, then they can
watch local television, listento the radio, also ask family or
friends, neighbors to keep themupdated, because usually they'll
know someone maybe who has asmartphone or is more interested
in technology. And that isreally a great source of
(07:30):
information. Because I knowsometimes people watch news
maybe in the evening. And sothat's not always the most up to
date information. If things arehappening during the day, I
would say let people know thatyou want to receive that
information. Also, you can signup for alert systems where
(07:51):
they'll notify via text message,
Lani Jennings-Hall (07:54):
Here Greenbrier, I've been impressed
with some of the more localtexts.
Logan Perkes (07:58):
So that's great, because a lot of times the texts
will work even if it's not asmartphone. So that's a great
system that a lot of localgovernments are coming out with
staying aware is just knowingwhat part of the state you're in
and Arkansas, certain parts ofthe state may be impacted by
earthquakes. But other parts ofthe state may be more impacted
(08:19):
by flooding, or tornadoes. Sojust knowing your specific area
will really help you know how toprepare and then knowing based
on your disability, what yourneeds are. So if you're a
wheelchair user, knowing Okay, Ineed to make sure that I take my
(08:40):
transfer board, in case I'mgoing to a shelter because it's
not very likely they're going tohave that. Or if you take life
sustaining medication, make sureyou have that available on your
emergency kit. And then or yourstay at home preparations
recommends flashlights, whichcan work for some people. Like I
(09:01):
said, I can only use one hand.
So I have headlamps or a necklight so that I can still use my
hand. And I find those arehelpful for everybody. Because
you don't want to be holding aflashlight if you don't need to
give it frees up your hands. Sothere's a lot of technology out
there that you can use that Ithink is more user friendly for
(09:21):
people with disabilities.
Preparing is really aboutproblem solving for people with
disabilities. And we do thatevery day. Anyway. So it's just
applying that skill set todisability to emergency
preparedness.
Lani Jennings-Hall (09:38):
You talked about an emergency kit. Do you
have any other recommendationsthat have been helpful for
having to shelter in place?
Logan Perkes (09:46):
Generally, they recommend having maybe five to
seven days worth of water. We'vehad water contamination problems
occasionally from powershutdowns or other natural
disasters. And so they'll have aboil water notice, but to me
that's really challenging. Theycan't lift heavy pots of water.
(10:08):
And so when I buy extra water, Ibuy the individual size water,
even though that's not soconvenient. But I can manage
those easier for myself. It goesback to what is manageable. I
always like to plan for beingalone, even though I don't live
alone. Because you just neverknow you could get separated
(10:32):
from someone in your householdor you could have to separate.
So I like to be able to makesure that if I am alone, that I
can take care of myself.
Lani Jennings-Hall (10:43):
That's a great point. What do you say to
people with disabilities whothink it's too hard to prepare
for something that isn't verylikely to happen?
Logan Perkes (10:53):
I can understand that sentiment, we do get a lot
of warnings, and things don'talways come up if you would
rather be ready if it doeshappen. And like you said, there
were the recent tornadoes inArkansas, and most people that
were impacted, probably didn'texpect that to happen to them.
(11:14):
So you just never know. So Ialways say it's better to be
prepared. Because when youprepare for a disaster, even a
large disaster like anearthquake, or tornado, you're
using skills, and developingplans that you can use for
smaller disasters. So it'sreally not that hard to sit down
(11:39):
with your household members orcaregivers and come up with an
evacuation plan. Write downemergency contact numbers,
decide which person is going tohandle which task in an
emergency. If it's a teen withautism, she can be assigned the
responsibility to help hergrandmother get to a safe spot.
(12:01):
If there's a tornado warning. Itcan be a family activity that
can be made fun, even. There'ssome national preparedness
events. The Great ShakeOut isthe national drill where
everyone in the country preparesfor an earthquake at the same
time. So I think there's ways tomake it more interesting and
(12:23):
fun, and doesn't take a lot oftime. And if you think about it,
we all prepare for disasters andemergencies at school. And at
work. We had fire drills, wethink about our evacuation
plans, we even time ourselves.
And we've turned it intosomewhat of a game. And so I
(12:43):
think if we're doing that atwork in school, why not do it at
home? I think that if we all didthat, it could really go a long
way in terms of safety. And theother thing I found is it's
helped me be more organized. IfI didn't have to leave the house
really quickly. I should haveeverything in one spot. Now I
(13:04):
have all my important documentsin one place. I know where they
are. So when I need them forother things like a doctor's
appointment, I know exactlywhere my insurance card is. It's
in this packet where I haveeverything out so I know where
my passport is, I need to book aflight. So being prepared for
disasters or emergencies isuseful for other situations too.
Lani Jennings-Hall (13:31):
You made a couple of really good points
that I want to touch. You talkabout the tornadoes and your
tornado warnings and having atornado when it definitely would
have been useful. Here I waswith a toddler corralling her
and two senior beagles into acloset trying to make a game of
a tea party underneath themattress because there's a
tornado on the way had I beenprepared and been a little more
(13:53):
organized. I would have knownwe've got this already prepared.
Everyone in the family knowswhere we go and a plan gets you
organized for other things to,making sure your medications,
your important paperwork areavailable. For me my medication
list and all of my contactinformation for all my doctors.
It's in my phone.
Logan Perkes (14:13):
Yes, definitely.
Handwriting things seems oldfashioned, but it does come in
handy.
Lani Jennings-Hall (14:20):
Are there other resources for people with
disabilities to prepare fordisasters?
Logan Perkes (14:25):
Yeah, so I had mentioned earlier the FEMA app,
and it's a great resource forpeople with disabilities. It was
redesigned to make it more userfriendly for people with
disabilities. So it has a lotmore photos and it's written in
plain language so it's moreaccessible for Deaf people and
(14:46):
anyone with a cognitivedisability. It has a lot of
educational information. Sothings you're talking about,
like our awareness campaigns onheat and other types of
awareness campaigns, so peopleLittle can learn about hazards.
Also ready.gov is the mainpreparedness site out there. And
(15:07):
it has a section specific topeople with disabilities, and
for families and also for pets.
It's also good to think aboutyour animals and what you would
do with your animals in anemergency. I have a cat and cats
are harder to corral than dogs.
Usually, a great Arkansasresource is the Governor's
(15:29):
Council on DevelopmentalDisabilities website has an
excellent video aboutpreparedness. And they also have
a checklist that is available inEnglish, Spanish and also
Marshallese. For the largeMarshallese population, they're
in Arkansas, so I highlyrecommend that resource. And
(15:50):
then one last thing that peopleoften don't think of is to
contact their local emergencymanagers, they can reach out to
them and just introducethemselves. If they feel like in
a disaster, they may needspecial assistance because of
their disabilities, they canjust talk to their local office
(16:10):
and find out what resources areavailable or if they have any
advice for them about what theyshould do your best resources or
your local resources.
Lani Jennings-Hall (16:22):
Logan, that's a great point. I also
want to add DRA is working on aresource here for Arkansas as
well. We're creating anemergency preparedness website
resource, it does link to FEMA,and it's got some additional
links as well. We do have videosfrom FEMA that you guys have
released when a natural disasterhas occurred. And then we will
(16:42):
have a form that you can submitall of your emergency
information, your pets, yourcontact information, your
caregivers contact information,your medication printed out and
documented.
Logan Perkes (16:54):
Yeah, that's great. That's good to have a
hardcopy and I also will emailit to myself that way, if I'm
honest, someone else's computer,I can access it via my email.
Lani Jennings-Hall (17:08):
That's great. So what are so common
barriers for people withdisabilities during and after
disasters that you'veexperienced in your line of
work?
Logan Perkes (17:19):
Transportation is always a big one. During a
disaster, people withdisabilities may have more
challenges evacuating,especially if they're wheelchair
users, or they have walkers orother durable medical equipment
they need to take with them, butthey might already struggle with
accessible transportation. Andthen as we know, usually,
(17:42):
transportation options availablearen't on demand. They're
scheduled rides. So that's abarrier that people with
disabilities face. Often peoplewith disabilities have fewer
financial resources, especiallyif they receive SSI benefits,
they're not allowed to save anymoney or have more than $1,000
(18:04):
in their bank account. So ifthey lose all their belongings
in a disaster, they don't have asavings that they can purchase
new things to replace whatthey've lost. And so that's why
it's harder for people with thevery low income with
disabilities to be resilientafter a disaster. And then of
(18:24):
course, people who are haveMedicaid, Medicare, or even
other health insurance programs,it can be hard to get
replacement medications ordurable medical equipment,
national challenge that someother people have to deal with.
FEMA can provide some extrafunding for people with
(18:45):
disabilities to replace items.
We are trained to distribute ourfunds in an equitable way. And
we do have advisors that are outin the field, and then we
partner with the state and localagencies.
Lani Jennings-Hall (19:00):
So one final question. Do you had mentioned
in your introduction that howyou got involved was for
personal experience? That's howyou got into your line of work?
How can people with disabilitiesget involved with emergency
preparedness and response andrecovery?
Logan Perkes (19:18):
That's a great question. Emergency Managers and
agencies are interested to hearfrom people with disabilities
and get our input. And so oneway that people with
disabilities can get involved intheir local communities is by
something called cert. And thatstands for community emergency
(19:40):
response teams. And those arevolunteer programs, where you
are trained in some basic skillsthat if there was ever a
disaster, then your team wouldbe deployed to potentially help
until some responders could getthere for For example, you might
(20:01):
help with search and rescue,disaster mental health, things
like that. It's very empoweringprogram. And it's a welcoming
program, take people of allabilities and skill levels and
interests. So whatever you'reable to contribute, you can
contribute to the CERT teams.
That's one way to get involvedand learn more about emergency
(20:25):
management. And then FEMA hascommittees that are always
seeking members for input onemergency management emergency
preparedness. I'm not sure rightnow of Arkansas, any committees,
but your local city or countyemergency management offices
have local committees that youcould join to provide input, I
(20:49):
think there's a lot ofopportunity out there. And as
you continue to have moredisasters, the interest is going
to keep growing at thegrassroots level, people are
going to become more engaged inthe disability community.
Lani Jennings-Hall (21:09):
Well, and as you said, Who knows better, what
type of change needs to happenin these type of recovery
efforts after a disaster, thenthe people with the lived
experience.
Logan Perkes (21:20):
And there's also the Red Cross, it's always
seeking volunteers. So whenthere is a disaster, you can
provide guidance and advice onassisting people with
disabilities. So there reallyare opportunities, and a lot of
them initially are unpaid, butthen it can lead to paid
opportunities, like working forFEMA, um, a lot of city counties
(21:45):
and states are starting to hirepaid positions in disability and
access some functional need inemergency managers. If you feel
like it's a career that mightinterest you, then I would say
go for it. It's very fulfilling,and it's a good way to start
Lani Jennings-Hall (22:04):
Logan, we really appreciate you joining us
today on Including You andsharing all of this great
information listeners, we willmake sure that we share all of
the links and resources thatLogan has talked about today.
Logan, thank you so much for allof this information today.
Logan Perkes (22:21):
Well, thank you so much for having me. I really
appreciate it.
Lani Jennings-Hall (22:34):
Thank you again Logan for joining me today
on Including You. And thank youlisteners. Disasters don't
discriminate. They hit hard,especially within the disability
community. But that doesn't meanwe can't prepare and respond.
How can we ensure that peoplewith disabilities are better
represented with largeremergency preparedness plans by
making sure people withdisabilities are involved in the
(22:55):
planning on the front end?
At Disability Rights Arkansas weenvision in Arkansas where
people with disabilities areequal members in their
communities and conduct theirlives through self
determination. And as made clearin this podcast can't create
that change without bringingself advocates to the table. If
you are interested in moreinformation, make sure to
(23:15):
subscribe to this podcast andvisit our website. And don't
forget to leave a five starrating and a review.
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