Calamities, preparedness and the poor

By J.A. Salaam -Staff Writer- | Last updated: Dec 14, 2017 - 2:57:55 PM

In August 2005, the world watched as tens of thousands of people fought for their lives to overcome the flood waters from Hurricane Katrina. People suffered as they filled the New Orleans Superdome stadium without food and aid for several days. Approximately 400,000 city residents were forced to relocate to other places.

Many were not able to make it out, particularly in the Lower 9th Ward, one of the poorest areas in New Orleans and home to about 14,000 Black people. Researchers found being poor or low on the Socio-Economic Standing (SES) scale made for more vulnerability during natural disasters and those who ofttimes lacked resources to prepare or recover.

“Being poor is synonymous with being unprepared. Poor people are affected worse than others when it comes to disasters. Mainly because there’s socio-economic inequality that shifts disaster aid and resources away from the poor communities,” said Paul Siddiq Muhammad. Mr. Muhammad is a certified trainer for organizing search and rescue operations, emergency communications and establishing emergency operating centers for at-risk populations.

“I’ve witnessed most states and local agencies are limited in resources to handle wide scale disasters. So, when disasters strike most of those resources go to the richer communities,” he added.

Statistically, wealthy or upper income bracket individuals possess the resources to bounce back from disasters. A Scientific American report said, “Data showed that trends may worsen inequality in the U.S., as the rich move away from disaster prone areas, while the poor are left behind. Poverty rates also increased by one percentage point in areas hit by super severe disasters, which suggests that people who aren’t poor are migrating out or that people who are poor are migrating in. It might also mean that the existing population transitioned into poverty.”

Researchers have found that in times of extreme weather, people of low socioeconomic status may not get official warnings or be able to respond quickly.

“That’s why it’s so important for grassroots community groups to be active during and after a natural disaster. Jesus said, ‘what you do for the least of them, you do for me’ so when the Red Cross, President Trump, and FEMA push the poor and needy behind, the men and women of faith must push them up,” said Pastor E.A. Deckard of Greenhouse International Church in Houston.

In their book “The Children of Katrina,” co-authors Alice Fothergill and Lori Peek discovered that groups, including poor women, people with lower incomes, public housing residents and women who were homeless, or unemployed lacked resources needed to evacuate. Though they received warnings, they were less able to respond than people with more money.

The level of vulnerability for poor people is an issue that is still being overlooked. Especially among immigrants and people with legal issues, say advocates. More than 2,000 people died as a direct result of the storm and levee break in New Orleans. The racial makeup broken down by Louisiana State University said 54 percent of those who died during Hurricane Katrina were Black, 40 percent of fatalities were White, four percent Asian and Native American and two percent were Latino.

The fires of California, dozens of hailstorms and tornadoes have wreaked havoc across America costing billions of dollars in damages. The U.S. has endured 49 separate climate and flood disasters, according to data from Munich Re, a global reinsurance firm.

Munich Re reported that disasters in 2017 and 2009 were the second highest disastrous first six months on record, 2012 had 59 events.

Hailstorms that battered Denver in May and Dallas in March were among the top costliest U.S. disasters with over $2.1 billion in damages. Denver’s 2017 hailstorm was likely the city’s costliest on record, according to Munich Re meteorologist Mark Bove.

On May 8, the storm hit Denver’s affluent community of Lakewood, Col. It severely damaged Lakewood mall. The economic impact of the storm severely damaged Denver’s largest shopping mall, closing it until the end of this year.

Lakewood’s population is 144,000 with 87 percent Whites and 1.5 percent Blacks. The mayor of Lakewood, Adam Paul, said that the first priority is to get people back to work—especially those employed at the shopping mall and unable to work due to the damages.

“During times of increased concerns about income inequality and climate change, natural disaster exposure risk could become another cause of rising quality of life inequality between the rich and the poor,” noted theconversation.com, an online academic journal in an article titled, “New data set explores 90 years of natural disasters in the U.S.”

“Our study suggests that areas that do not adapt to natural disaster risk will become poorer over time, as well-to-do residents move away,” it continued.

Some challenges facing people in vulnerable communities include connecting with government and law officials in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

“There was a shelter in Florida checking documents before people were allowed to enter. So, they suffer even more because of fear of being deported for being illegal. Or cases when there’s criminals on the run or may just have warrants will avoid being caught and rather stay away than give their information. Or women who are victims of spousal abuse, and they are hiding out of fear. Remember, those who don’t have a voice in society, don’t have a voice in times of disaster. The problem with that is now you don’t know who they are and if they are not recorded, they are not reported missing,” said Pastor David Peay, director of Community Services for the Southeastern Conference of the Seventh Day Adventists.

“Poor people have to begin to get more practical about survival and move beyond the excitement of just having mere information that’s not carried into practice. Knowledge is key to survival. We need to know terms like ‘strategic intelligence’ and ‘tactical intelligence,’ ” said Mr. Muhammad.

“Strategic intelligence is knowing what to do and tactical intelligence is knowing how to do it. Preparation is a process that is done over time and not when there is a disaster,” he added. Mr. Muhammad conducts online communication training for the Nation of Islam’s Houston Mosque No. 45 disaster preparedness and community response team.

“Most people are clueless of what to do in disasters. They want to know how much food and water they should store up and for how long. Or how can they prepare to evacuate when they are broke and limited on finances,” Mr. Muhammad explained.

“When you are poor in not just finances, but in knowledge, your life is in turmoil. I tell them to store one gallon of water per person per day for two weeks, get one pound of Spirulina Plankton per person, because they can live several weeks eating it. Also get plenty of sardines, have foods that don’t need refrigeration or cooking, like homemade canned food, etc. We must help our people learn how to help themselves,” he added.

For templates and worksheets on emergency and disaster preparedness, visit www.creativegeniustech.com/survival-docs.

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