Lately, Minnesota has had quite a few severe storms and the USA has had a lot of emergencies. Due to this, I’ve been thinking about how inaccessible emergency evacuations or emergency sheltering is. emergencies that are inaccessible are sheltering for a severe storm, evacuating for a fire, or evacuating a building during an act of violence.
Severe Storms
I have a physical disability and rely on a power wheelchair to help me move around. When a storm comes that is severe and requires people to take shelter, I have to typically go outside and around my house to get into my basement which is the lowest level of my home. It is also the safest place in a severe storm situation.
Unfortunately, if I don’t learn of the severe storm ahead of time, I cannot make the trip safely to the basement as my chair cannot get wet. This means I must stay upstairs and go into the upstairs bathroom.
If I am in bed when the severe storms arrive, my caregiver must get me out of bed, hoping the power is not out, and help me quickly to the safest place. By this time, it would likely be too late.
Therefore, most homes in Minnesota are inaccessible for those with disabilities to get to safety in a severe storm. Most homes have a basement that is accessible only by stairs. This needs to change.
Fires
Fires are also a danger to those with disabilities. If a fire started in my home, I would struggle to escape. I cannot stay low to the ground to avoid the smoke.
I can only exit my home in one place. If the fire is between my room and kitchen, I cannot get out due to that being my only exit route. Therefore, I’d have to wait for first responders to come carry me out. If that happened, I wouldn’t have my chair and therefore would have no where to sit. No way to move around.
Acts of Violence
In recent days and weeks, there have been two mass shootings. I’ve been thinking about what I would’ve done in either of those situations as someone with a disability. Frankly, there’s nothing I can do because evacuating or hiding from an act of violence is not something I am physically able to do.
In school, we had lock downs to prepare for the event of an intruder. I often wondered, as my classmates were sitting on the ground, if I would be first to be shot or hurt. I was the first one the intruder would see. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t escape out a window.
As these events have transpired, I’ve thought about how inaccessible protocols are for these events. There is no safe way for me to escape. It’s a scary thought.
America needs to fix these inaccessibilities. We need to think of everyone instead of only those that are able-bodied. Accessibility helps everyone. Not just people with disabilities.
Wheeling Through Life 