POCKET CLASS: When disaster hits, this is who should really get a seat at the table

The 2005 catastrophic tropical cyclone Hurricane Katrina was one of the most intense in U.S. history. But not everyone felt the effects equally, says Dr. Patricia Stukes, who teaches in Royal Roads University’s Master of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management program. 

“The needs of people with disabilities were completely ignored,” she says. 

Stukes, who worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) prior to Katrina, says there were no emergency transportation or shelter plans for people with disabilities. 

“Wheelchair users were left behind, so were guide dogs and essential equipment and medication.”

The reason? They were never consulted or involved in disaster planning.

“There’s this idea that we’re the experts,” she says of emergency management professionals. “So we’re coming into your community to tell you what to do. The fact that you live there, you experience it every day, doesn’t necessarily translate into expertise because of the very westernized way we have of defining expertise. It’s the premise behind colonization in general.”

In her classes, she encourages students to not only look at vulnerability when it comes to disasters, but also resilience.

“I think it really humanizes the experience,” she says — something that was missing from the widely criticized emergency response more than two decades ago. 

“The focus shifts away from simply asking what needs to be fixed, and toward understanding a person’s lived experience so we can support them in the direction they want to go. It becomes less of a dictatorship and more of a negotiation.”

Canada marks National AccessAbility Week each May. This story is part of a series of pieces on the important contributions of persons with disabilities and the ongoing movement toward a more accessible and inclusive Canada. Visit our National AccessAbility Week webpage for more stories, to learn about upcoming events and discussions, and to find resources.