Paper

RUNNING HEAD: Special Population

Special Populations of Palacios, Texas

Linda J. Gonzalez

Walden University

January 15, 2017

Natural disasters occur in areas around the world affecting every individual without any discrimination as an act of God according to Steinberg (2006). This means that once a disaster strikes, it affects every member of the population within the locality. This, however, does not mean that every member of the society has an equal ability to respond to the disaster. The society describes people who face some difficulty in reacting to disaster due to their age, physical, mental and, cognitive condition as the special population. The limiting factor to the ability of the special population of reacting to disaster means that the impact of the disaster would weigh more on such individuals than the general population.

Most of the people who live in this town are of Hispanic dissent. Almost all residents in Palacios use English. Since 60% of residents are Hispanic, Spanish is the secondary language spoken in town (City-Data, 2016). English and Spanish are the main languages of communication. The population is composed of mostly young adults. As mentioned previously, the median age of the residents is 33 (City-Data, 2016). The town’s economy is modest and cannot afford large investments or expensive upgrades to its infrastructure or current emergency response system.

Palacios, Texas has several special populations of citizens that make emergency preparedness, response and recovery difficult. It is described as a unique population owing to the nature of their social status as compared to the other residents of the United States. Palacios has a group of low-income residents. Again, as mentioned previously, 24.1% of residents live in poverty and 7% of residents are unemployed (City-Data, 2016). Low-income residents are defined as people whose earnings is less than twice the national poverty line. In addition to low-income residents, there is also a homeless population. Non-English-speaking citizens of Palacios are another special population that needs to be considered when developing a plan. The portion of the population, which is not well acquainted with English also face a lot of trouble, compared to the victims who can speak the two common languages. Language barriers have the ability to reduce, by a significant factor the effectiveness of instructions, directives or warnings that are usually given immediately before a disaster occurs.

Children are minor members of society whose limiting factor lies with their age. Their age restricts their cognitive abilities and during a disaster period, they may be unable to know which direction to take to emerge alive from the catastrophe. In this age, children are in two parent working homes. They are staying at home after school alone more and more. Older children are left to tend to their younger siblings until one of the parents come home from work. Children that are not rehearsed in emergency response or evacuation will not know what to do in case of emergencies. Another special population in Palacios are people with disabilities. They are also faced with a barrier during times of disaster and require special interventions to emerge alive after tragic occurrences. The disability may be in various forms such as mobility impairments, seeing impairments or hearing impairments. These disabilities put the individuals at a disadvantage since they may not be able to detect the threat at the same time as the rest of the population and they may also not be able to escape from the catastrophe with the rest of the public. These circumstances make them vulnerable to injuries and death during disasters.

The final group of special population people are the elderly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, becoming elderly and certain aspects of aging can make older people more vulnerable (2017). If those adults have chronic illnesses, limitations or dementia the preparing or responding to an emergency is severely hindered. Palacios maintains two nursing homes and several elderly people that live on their own or with other family members. In a document written for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding disaster planning tips for the elderly, the author writes “older adults are more vulnerable than younger adults during a disaster because they are more likely to have impaired physical mobility, diminished sensory awareness, chronic health conditions, or social and economic limitations that interfere with their ability to prepare for disasters and to respond and adapt during such events” (2017). In order to identify special populations in the community, leaders and emergency planners should use historic events to determine what prior disasters have already shown.

Any disaster can have a grave impact on lower-income communities. These residents do not have as many resources to prepare their communities and rebound from all types of emergencies. Even though many people often refer to natural emergencies as social equalizers since they do not affect based on race, class or ethnicity, these kinds of occurrences worsen our underlying economic inequalities. Low-income households are also likely to have a higher percentage of the people who are affected by these disasters since they are often the majority of the people who live in the areas which have undergone in the past the most damage due to such natural disasters since property in such areas is often cheaper (Sylves, 2015). Also, it is common to have better means of transportation in areas where the upper class or higher-income people live than where the lower-income people live. Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy were excellent example of this.

A public transportation system is desired by many but a necessity to the ones that cannot afford a vehicle. Public transportation in lower income areas are less likely to run on time or break down. There is less funding to maintain public transportation methods and the money that is available tends to maintain transportation in more affluent neighborhoods. An article written by Gillian White noted that “bus drivers sometimes didn't complete routes late at night because there were very few passengers and the neighborhoods were considered dangerous or bus drivers would sometimes pass people by standing at bus stops” (White, 2015).

Due to inadequate transportation in areas where low-income residents live, lower-income families will be more at a disadvantage since response time for them will be longer due to the poor transportation system that is in place. This discrepancy directly translates to a higher number of casualties. Inadequate transportation increases the vulnerability of the elderly, the sick and the physically challenged because for some, public transportation is their only means of travel. This often increases the vulnerability of lower income groups since evacuation from the areas that are at potential risk of a disaster is less likely to occur. Since Palacios is in a hurricane prone area, there will be times that an evacuation is ordered. Community leaders and disaster management policies should be focused on modifying socio-economic surroundings that make some groups more vulnerable (Sylves, 2015).

Some residents of Palacios live in poor quality housing. Due to their low-income, their houses are constructed shoddily in undesirable neighborhoods which often do not have quality services and often supported by suboptimal infrastructure. This puts them into greater risk in cases of extreme weather or other disaster. Currently, the Affordable Housing Gap Analysis 2016 mentions that there is a lack of 7.2 million affordable rental units available to extremely low-income renter households (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2016). There are 31 affordable and available units per 100 extremely low-income renter households. This makes low-income families stay in cheap houses such as mobile homes, people who stay in poorly prepared houses, or in their cars or on the street. During the recovery period after a disaster, the low-income residents have a more difficult time resettling and associated problems because a lack of savings or insurance. An analysis done revealed that housing assistance following disasters due to extreme weather conditions often favors the middle-earning people who were victims (Ross, 2013). After Katrina, the number of affordable rental units reduced by half and the result of this was a huge rise in costs of the units that were available. The rent for a two-bedroom apartment has increased by over 45% in just two years.

The lack of emergency notification in multiple languages creates a problem for non-English speaking citizens. Emergency messages may have orders for evacuation, routes to be followed, and measures to be developed to remain safe or get help when a disaster strikes or any other information that is quite sensitive and concerns the impending emergency. If the broadcast is in English, and people in Palacios do not understand the language, there is a significant possibility that they will not be able to get the needed information. This miscommunication will result in not following directions, and may ultimately lead to a higher number of casualties of the non-English-speaking special population just because of this reason. In times of a disaster, individual and community prior preparation is a crucial step in reducing the effects that disasters often come with and increasing the resilience of the community. To prevent and reduce the number of casualties involved in these disasters due to non-English-speaking special populations, it would be advisable for the federal, state, and the local authorities to invest in educating and training non-English-speaking special populations in their language. By taking these extra measures it will help them understand appropriate reactions and responses. The local and federal government should ensure that the non-English-speaking populations and their counterparts who can speak English are equally prepared in case of any disaster (Kamolvej, 2010).

Another remedy to reducing the number of deaths of non-English speaking populations due to language barriers is the provision of disaster preparation materials, instructions, and directives in multiple languages. The message conveyors should ensure that the information is disseminated in every language that is spoken in the area likely to be affected. In order to reduce fatalities and the effects of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy had on some special populations, the local and federal government should ensure that in the response plans that rescue, relief, and preparation should contain equal concentration on all groups and no group should be given preference or be at a disadvantage (Haddow, 2014).

The government of Palacios, Texas should make investments that will help it deal with post-disaster issues and the areas mentioned above should be addressed to ensure no group of people is at a disadvantage. The nation as a whole should also address the economic, social and physical factors that Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy made some groups more vulnerable than others. Some measures that would greatly help reduce this imbalance include; ensuring everyone, especially the lower-income groups have access to investment funds, insurance, housing in safe locations, good transportation systems and most importantly support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration (Haddow, 2014). This kind of definition and description of these people is essential in determining the kind of mitigation strategies needed as that guides the individuals involved in the rescue and response operations.

During a disaster, children may also be limited by their physical ability to move away from danger and into a shelter where they could be catered for. Also, as noted before, modern families allow children to remain at home alone until one parent arrives home. It is the duty of parents and other citizens to protect and take care of children during a disaster, but when the children are separated from their guardians, they become a vulnerable population that could be affected by every looming danger. It is a good idea to teach all children in the household what to do in times of an emergency. A family should design an emergency plan with their children and practice it. This way a child knows what is expected of them during an emergency.

Emergency response dictates that individuals should be prepared to handle disaster even before it has occurred. In this way, they will be able to avoid confusion during the disaster and also save many more lives with a clear idea of how to. During the evacuation of children during a disaster, the National Commission on Children and Disasters suggested priority is made to rescuing kids based on Revere (2010). Children should be educated on ways they would follow to escape from disaster by seeking an appropriate shelter. The teachers and parents should also prepare an after-disaster evaluation to deal with trauma in kids.

Enders and Brandt note in the case of disabled personnel, building designs should accommodate those with a mobility disability that could prevent them from escaping disaster such as long staircases (2007). Public education on how to handle the disabled in their vicinity could also help ease the challenges facing disabled people during the disaster management. The vulnerabilities of a special population are dealt with by many organizations that aim at saving more lives.

References

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City-Data.com. (2016). Palacios, Texas. Advameg, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.city-

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