This story from the Sunday, January 22 issue of the Bee reminds us again of the vulnerability to our area from flooding, and how the poor, disabled, and frail elderly will suffer the most. The focus here is on evacuation when flooding occurs, and that is certainly appropriate until a more optimal solution, that of stopping the possibility of flooding occurring, or so reducing it that it can safely be said we don’t have to worry about it with daily stories in the Bee about it.
That kind of safety, 1,000 year protection, is the level the Dutch aim for in their flood control projects, Surely we can aim for half of that, 500 year protection, and in the process protect the integrity of our Parkway and the safety of our most vulnerable neighbors.
Here is an excerpt:
“More than 150,000 of Sacramento County's most vulnerable residents - the elderly, the poor and the disabled - live in areas prone to substantial flooding, and local officials acknowledge they don't know whether they could quickly get them to safe ground.
“That worries Lloyd Hudson. A downtown Sacramento resident who lost a leg a few years ago to an infection, Hudson remembers watching news coverage of Hurricane Katrina and seeing how people like him had trouble evacuating New Orleans.
"I wondered how I would get up and get out," said Hudson. He'd have to put on his prosthetic leg "and then I'd get out, but I wouldn't be able to move very fast."
“The poor and immobile tend to get left behind, as news coverage of Katrina showed again and again. Many of New Orleans' poor didn't have cars. Lots of elderly and disabled residents couldn't drive. The city wasn't prepared to get them out, so they were stuck.
“And, much to the disappointment of residents like Hudson, something like that could happen here, say some emergency officials and advocates for the disadvantaged.
“Matching U.S. Census data with state flood maps, the Bee found 54,000 residents listed as elderly, 89,000 listed as poor and 40,000 with a physical disability living in Sacramento County areas that could be under at least 2 feet of water if a bad flood hit - enough to require an evacuation. Those figures include about 25,000 residents who show up two or three times - for example, listed as both elderly and disabled.
"I would suggest to you that perhaps there are even more," said Carole Hopwood, who was manager of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Emergency Operations Division until retiring at the turn of the year. In the event of a serious flood, the division, in conjunction with state and local governments, would be charged with coordinating evacuation efforts.
“Hopwood has major concerns. First, she said, emergency officials don't know where to find all the people who most need help. If immobile residents aren't in a nursing home or receiving in-home health services, chances are the city and county aren't aware of them. Second, even if emergency officials knew exactly where each immobile person lived, they might not be able to get them out in time.
"We simply don't have enough resources to adequately evacuate all these people," she said.
“Hopwood's interim replacement, former fire chief Rick Martinez, agrees more needs to be done. "I think," he said, "there are going to be many more people than we have resources to help."
“A recent training exercise simulating a large-scale evacuation during a disaster did not instill confidence. One blind participant called it a complete flop.
“And while many areas likely would flood slowly in the event of a levee break or breach, that's little solace for the immobile.
“David Mana-ay, chairman of the Sacramento County Disability Advisory Committee, puts it bluntly: If a big flood hit Sacramento tomorrow, some immobile residents likely would die.”
