Hurricaine Katrina More Disability Information

For case managers, disability attorneys, families and friends concerned with persons with a disability including persons suffering from disability caused by a traumatic brain injury who may have been affected by Hurricane Katrina the following is further information obtained:

Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities

The following information is intended to provide the disability community with information about the federal governments efforts to work with them during this crisis.  Much information is flowing to us; this bulletin is an effort to get some responses back.

Interagency Coordinating Council Forms an Incident Management Team. This Team consists of representatives from several federal agencies. Our goal is to provide an organized and coordinated way to respond to the issues that are being directed to the Council at an overwhelming rate.  This
Team will facilitate timely resolution of these issues, coordinate responses, as well as coordinate with other similar recovery efforts underway at the federal, state and local levels. 

How to Contact the Incident Management Team:  If you want to raise an issue to us, please send an email to: disability.preparedness@dhs.gov.
Someone will be checking that email account regularly, all through the weekends. 

When we receive an issue or concern, we will try to boil it down into a concrete, specific action item.  We will try to prioritize it according to whether it is short-term and urgent need, is focused on the medium-term, or is focused on the long-term.  We will try several avenues for dealing with it, including: Send it to our wonderful contact in FEMA management Send it to one of the federal agencies on the ICC, if that agency is able to resolve the matter Send it to one of several officials within DHS headquarters who have offered to help us solve problems Send it to one of our friends in the disability advocacy community, if the request might be addressed in the private sector rather
than the public sector.   

Please remember that the governments response to this crisis is multi-layered  dont forget to reach out to state officials and local officials on the ground.  Also, do not hesitate to contact others in the
federal government who you think might be helpful (for example, NCD has been very active and effective; they are looped into the ICC, but also have independent avenues for getting things done).  Do not hesitate to pursue multiple options for getting your issue heard and resolved!


FCC Issues Public Notice Reminding Video Program Distributors of the Need to Make Emergency Information Regarding Hurricane Katrina Evacuation and Relief Effort Accessible to Persons with Hearing and Vision Disabilities.

The FCC issued this critical Notice today amid complaints that emergency information being provided over television is not being made accessible to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.  The Commission has also received complaints that emergency information that was provided visually was blocked by other information on the screen or that emergency information provided visually blocked closed captioning.  Go to
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-2438A1.doc to access this Public Notice online.