Research & Reports

Assessing the impact of Hurricane Katrina on persons with disabilities (PDF) 200, Lawrence, KS: The University of Kansas, The Research and Training Center on Independent Living, last accessed 01/24/08

Disabled People and Disaster Planning a group of people primarily from Los Angeles County who met during 1996 and 1997 and formulated recommendations to reduce problems with accessibility that many people with disabilities experienced after the Northridge Earthquake of 1994. This group included individuals with disabilities and individuals from the disaster planning and response professions. last accessed 01/17/08

Disaster Preparedness For Persons With Disabilities Improving California's Response: A Report by The California Department of Rehabilitation, April 1997. last accessed 02/13/08

Effective Emergency Management: Making Improvements for Communities and People with Disabilities—In the Public Eye,2009, National Council on Disability, last accessed 05.9.10

The report is divided into three segments:

• Life Cycle of Comprehensive Emergency Management. Seven chapters review and discuss findings for a variety of hazards and the four main phases of emergency management activity: preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.
• Emergency Managers and Voluntary Organizations. Reviews importance of connecting these two sets of resources is discussed, along with strategies to build capacities and leverage resources for people with disabilities in harm’s way.
• Promising Practices. Outlines the implications of the empirical research assessment for the practice of disaster management for people with disabilities, identifies promising initiatives, reveals trends in policy and practice, and provides a comprehensive set of interventions for the present Administration as well as federal agencies, state and local government, and individuals.

Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Communication Access: Lessons Learned Since 9/11 and Recommendations the work of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network (DHHCAN), The report represents an extensive summary of personal experiences by individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing on the fateful day of September 11, 2001 and thereafter under different circumstances. last accessed 01/30/08

History of Disasters:

• Declared Disasters by Year or State FEMA (last accessed 09/18/08)
• GenDisasters looks at the events that touched our ancestor's lives - tornadoes, fires, floods, hurricanes, train wrecks, mine explosions, and tragic accidents that became a part of history and our genealogy. (last accessed 09/18/08)
• Great American Disasters State by State (last accessed 09/18/08)

Kobe, Japan’s Great Hanshin‑Awaji Earthquake, January 1995 – People With Disabilities And Other Access And Functional Needs - Given the 9.0 Earthquake in northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, it is important to review the lessons documented from the Kobe (Great Hanshin‑Awaji) quake January 1995, regarding integrating people with disabilities and other access and functional needs into emergency planning, response and recovery. Kailes, J. (2000) Creating a Disaster - Resistant Infrastructure for People at Risk Including People with Disabilities - Title: Care for Those Most Vulnerable to Disaster: Tasks and Methods. The Great Hanshim-Awaji Earthquake, Assessment Reports of the Global Assessment of Earthquake Countermeasures - People Most Vulnerable to Disaster, Volunteers, Hyogo Prefectural Government  Committee for Global Assessment of Countermeasures5-10-1 Shimoyamate-dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-8567 Japan, Fax: +81-78-362-3910.