Ep 14: Emergency Preparedness
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Today’s episode is about emergency preparedness and disabled people. 2017 has been a trying year in more ways than one. Evacuation and preparedness doesn’t look the same for people with disabilities and you’ll hear about it with Alice’s two guests: Alecia Deon and Angela Wrigglesworth. Alecia lives in the Miami area and did not evacuate during Hurricane Irma. Angela, a resident of Houston, shared her story evacuating out of her home during Hurricane Harvey as the waters reached into her home. You’ll hear in detail Alecia and Angela’s emotions, decision-making processes, choices, and risks as they faced these two natural disasters.
Transcript
Related Links
Engtralgo, Rebekah. (September 8, 2017). Irma is ‘not a storm you can sit and wait through.’ What if that’s your only option? ThinkProgress.org
National Council on Disability: Publications on Emergency Management
Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies (now known as the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies)
You Find Out Your Friend and Fellow-Wheelchair User Has Been Rescued From Hurricane Harvey-Related Flooding.Y New Mobility magazine (October 2017).
About

Alecia Deon
Alecia holds a bachelor’s degree in Africana Studies from the University of South Florida. Her passion for this field began sophomore year of high school, where the absence of Black history propelled her into a journey of self-exploration, spirituality, and a life of leadership and activism.
As a Caribbean immigrant, living in the United States, surviving Sickle Cell Anemia and pursuing her passion for social justice, Alecia has a unique perspective and a powerful voice. The underlying impetus driving her commitment is feeling duty bound to serve her community(ies).
She is an intellectual–a spiritual activist finding freedom for the intersectionally marginalized–utilizing tools of resistance (self love, writing as activism, and artistic expression) to foster self-development, growth, and healing.
Busy melding disparate scholarly frameworks, cultural expressions, and spiritual doctrines submerged in an unmistakable Blackness, Alecia hopes to construct a means for us to heal, reclaim our truest selves, and edify our souls.
Website: rosesandconcrete.com
Twitter: @MsDeonB | @rosesnconcrete

Angela Wrigglesworth is a 3rd grade teacher in the Houston Independent School District. She was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2 at the age of sixteen months and has successfully navigated life through the use of a power wheelchair and an incredible support system of friends and family. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University and is an 18 year veteran educator. Her personal motto comes from the great Coach John Wooden, “Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.”
Twitter: @littlewriggle
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Credits
Cheryl Green, Audio Producer and Transcriber
Alice Wong, Writer, Producer, Interviewer
Lateef McLeod, Introduction
Mike Mort, Artwork
Theme Music (used with permission of artist)
Song: “Hard Out Here for A Gimp”
Album: NO BIG DEAL
Artist: Wheelchair Sports Camp
Music
“Erik Satie: Gymnopedie No 1” by Kevin McLeod. (Source: freemusicarchive.org. Licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.)
“Ballerina Platform Shoes (Set In Sand Remix)” by Origamibiro. (Source: freemusicarchive.org. Licensed under Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.)
“Impressions Of Footfall (Plaid Remix)” by Origamibiro. (Source: freemusicarchive.org. Licensed under Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.)
“Union” by David Szesztay. (Source: freemusicarchive.org. Licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.)
“Long White Cloud” by Krackatoa. (Source: freemusicarchive.org. Licensed under Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.)
Sounds
“VOCODER countdown” by Jack_Master. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License.
“8 Bit Beeping Computer Sounds” by sheepfilms. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License.
Categories
I much appreciate this podcast…I’ve written so many times about preparedness for those of us living with disabilities, and so much of what was brought out here was everything I’ve either said, explained, advised, or done. People just don’t have a clue about what it takes to evacuate…and in my case, I have a service dog and a service dog prospect, very young. During this last FL hurricane, my prospect dog was all of 3 months old.
Love your work, Disability Visibility Project!
Peace
Kyrie-Inn Blue, Tao Blue SD CGC CGCA CGCU, Deja Blue SD prospect
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