Disability Rights in a Changing Climate: Why Inclusive Emergency Planning Matters More Than Ever
Climate change is changing the way we think about emergency preparedness. Stronger hurricanes, extreme heat, flooding, wildfire smoke, and power outages are becoming more common across the country—and Florida is no exception. But while these events affect everyone, they do not affect everyone equally. For people with disabilities, a disaster can create additional barriers that make it harder to stay safe, receive information, evacuate, or recover.
Preparing for emergencies isn’t just about having enough food or water. It’s also about making sure every person has equal access to the information, transportation, services, and supports they need before, during, and after a disaster. Accessibility is not an extra step in emergency planning—it is an essential part of protecting lives.
Climate Change Is More Than an Environmental Issue
Climate change often feels like a global problem, but its effects are experienced close to home. As temperatures rise, communities face more frequent and intense heat waves, hurricanes, flooding, severe storms, wildfire smoke, and prolonged power outages. These hazards can affect health, housing, transportation, communication, and access to essential services.
The important question is not simply who will experience these events? It is who can prepare, respond, and recover safely—and who faces barriers that make those tasks more difficult?
Climate Risks Are Not Experienced Equally
Some groups are affected more than others because of existing social, economic, health, and accessibility challenges. Children, older adults, people experiencing homelessness, low-income communities, racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities often experience greater impacts during climate-related emergencies.
Many individuals belong to more than one of these groups. A child with a disability living in a low-income household, for example, may face multiple challenges during an emergency. Understanding these overlapping experiences helps communities create better, more inclusive emergency plans.
Disability Does Not Equal Vulnerability
One of the most important ideas in disability rights is that disability itself is not what creates greater risk.
Instead, risk often comes from barriers in our communities and emergency systems. When transportation is inaccessible, emergency alerts cannot be understood, shelters cannot accommodate medical equipment, or support services are interrupted, disasters become much more dangerous for people with disabilities.
This is why emergency preparedness should focus on removing barriers rather than placing responsibility solely on individuals.
The question should never be, “What’s wrong with the person?”
Instead, we should ask, “What needs to change in our systems so everyone can stay safe?”
Extreme Heat Is a Disability Rights Issue
In South Florida, extreme heat is becoming one of the most serious climate-related health risks.
Heat affects everyone differently, but it can present additional challenges for many people with disabilities. Some medications make it harder for the body to regulate temperature. Certain health conditions increase the risk of heat-related illness. People who rely on public transportation may struggle to reach cooling centers. Others depend on electricity for mobility equipment, communication devices, or medications that require refrigeration.
Even receiving heat warnings may be difficult if emergency messages are not provided in accessible formats.
These challenges show that protecting people during extreme heat requires more than opening cooling centers—it requires planning that considers accessibility from the beginning.
Different Disabilities Mean Different Needs
There is no single disability experience, and emergency planning should reflect that reality.
Autistic individuals and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities may experience sensory challenges, disruptions in routines, communication barriers, or increased stress in unfamiliar emergency shelters.
People with physical disabilities or spinal cord injuries may face challenges with temperature regulation, accessible transportation, mobility, and equipment that depends on electricity.
Researchers are also studying how certain medical conditions associated with Down syndrome and other disabilities may influence responses to extreme heat. While more research is needed, it is already clear that emergency planning must recognize that different disabilities create different needs.
Climate Disasters Can Leave Lasting Emotional Impacts
The effects of climate disasters do not end when the storm passes.
The experiences of sisters Maia and Mia Bravo, who survived California’s devastating Tubbs Fire, remind us that disasters can have lasting emotional effects. After losing their home and experiencing repeated displacement, smoke, sirens, and news about fires continued to trigger fear and anxiety long after the emergency ended. Counseling, routines, preparation, and support from others helped them begin to recover.
Their story reminds us that recovery includes emotional healing as well as rebuilding homes and communities.
Emergency Preparedness Is Also a Civil Rights Issue
Disability rights laws continue to protect people with disabilities during emergencies.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act require state and local government emergency programs and federally funded services to be accessible and free from discrimination. These protections include accessible communication, reasonable modifications, accessible programs, and equal opportunities to benefit from emergency services.
Emergency planning is not simply good practice—it is also a civil rights responsibility.
Preparing Before an Emergency Makes a Difference
Every family should have an emergency plan, but people with disabilities may need additional preparations based on their individual needs.
Helpful steps include:
- Build a support network of family, friends, neighbors, caregivers, or coworkers.
- Keep medications, medical information, and important documents together in an easy-to-access location.
- Plan for backup batteries or power sources for medical or assistive equipment.
- Prepare communication supports, including augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices if needed.
- Identify accessible transportation and evacuation options before an emergency occurs.
- Pack sensory supports, preferred foods, and other items that provide comfort and stability.
- Register early for local evacuation assistance if specialized transportation or shelter accommodations may be needed.
Taking these steps before a disaster can reduce stress and improve safety when every minute counts.
Know Your Local Resources
Residents should become familiar with trusted emergency resources before they are needed.
In Miami-Dade County, the Emergency & Evacuation Assistance Program (EEAP) helps residents who may need specialized transportation, medical monitoring, wellness checks, or accessible shelter during emergencies. Pre-registering allows emergency planners to better understand community needs before an evacuation order is issued. Residents can also call 311 for additional information and assistance.
Other valuable resources include Florida SAIL, FEMA, DisasterAssistance.gov, Disaster Legal Aid, Florida Law Help, and the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline for emotional support following disasters.
Building More Inclusive Communities
True climate resilience means designing communities where everyone can prepare, respond, and recover safely.
That includes:
- Accessible emergency alerts in multiple formats.
- People with disabilities participating in emergency planning from the beginning.
- Accessible evacuation transportation and shelters.
- Reliable access to medications, healthcare, assistive technology, and personal assistance services.
- Strong partnerships between disability organizations, emergency managers, healthcare providers, and community organizations.
- Accountability to ensure accessibility and civil rights protections are upheld.
A community cannot be fully prepared if some of its residents are left behind.
Looking Ahead
At the Advocacy Network on Disabilities, we believe preparedness begins with listening.
Our current work focuses on understanding how extreme heat affects different disability communities, identifying gaps in existing research, gathering lived experiences from people with disabilities and their families, increasing public awareness, and using evidence to improve emergency preparedness and public policy.
People with disabilities must be partners in creating solutions—not an afterthought once plans have already been made.
As climate risks continue to grow, we all have a role to play in building communities that are safer, more inclusive, and better prepared for everyone.
Because preparedness is personal.
Accessibility is a shared responsibility.
