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Paul Timmons’ has played a key role in the Disability Rights Movement as an advocate for the needs and role people with disabilities have in disaster planning. Timmons formally served in a professional capacity as the Red Cross Disability Integration Coordinator.  Additionally, he is the founder of two organizations dedicated to disaster relief for people with disabilities, The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies and Portlight Strategies, which he ran up until he retired after being diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago.

Many factors contribute to challenges in disaster planning for people with disabilities. Natural disasters can lead to consequences that both become the cause of people’s disabilities or can lead to death when people with disabilities are unable to evacuate. Recently, residents of a nursing home in Lahaina Hawaii died after the building burned down as a result of wildfires on the island. The ways in which disasters may affect people with disabilities may vary depending on their conditions. As with what happened at the nursing home in Lahaina, people with physical disabilities may find it hard to evacuate when a disaster hits and people with intellectual disabilities may not understand that it’s necessary to evacuate.. People with disabilities being left behind and abandoned in cases of natural disasters is another major issue, as seen during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when dozens of nursing home residents were left to die as flood waters kept rising. 

George W. Bush was president at the time Katrina hit, and many believe that the government’s response, or lack thereof, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, was influenced by the fact that those living in the area that was hit by the hurricane were predominantly black. Timmons observes that “The root of the issue with Katrina was racism and poverty. To the extent that disability overlaps in that it certainly had a profound impact on our folks.  Over the last 18 years im pretty confident that not enough people have talked about that.”  

According to a 2023 report By Harvard University entitled “Disability in a Time of Climate Disaster” people with disabilities are two to four times more likely to die or be injured in climate emergencies like heatwaves, hurricanes, and floods. Also, a challenge to people with disabilities in disasters is inaccessible transportation emergency shelters and social isolation.  Hurricane Katrina was no exception, with the devastation wrought by the storm disproportionately impacting people with disabilities. An accurate statistic of the number of people with disabilities who died during Katrina has never been verified, yet it is known that 73% of the deaths in New Orleans area that resulted from the hurricane were among those aged 60 and over.  

Considering whether enough advancements have been made in disaster relief efforts for people with disabilities since 2005, Hurricane Katrina happened today, would the response be as bad as it was in 2005? “Depends on where it hits.  Louisiana has learned some lessons things are a little bit better there. “I live on the coast of South Carolina.  I have evacuated. Let me tell you, it’s very expensive and very time-consuming. Katrina is a wonderful example.  Katrina hit at the end of the month when poor people don’t have any money. it disrupted the delivery of funds at the beginning of the month so people still didn’t have any money.” 

For people with disabilities, evacuating during a disaster comes with many added complications.  One example, during Hurricane Katrina, was inaccessible buses. Ethel Freeman, a 91-year old woman died slumped over in her wheelchair at the convention center in New Orleans where residents attempted to take refuge after the storm. Freeman was unable to leave the convention center due to an inability to evacuate because of a lack of accessible buses.  Friedman died outside of the convention center. For people with disabilities, lack of money and inaccessible transportation can greatly hinder the ability to evacuate during a disaster.

Disaster relief in general and planning

Timmons doesn’t mince words when he talks about, the progress, or lack there of, that has been made for disaster relief for people with disabilities since Hurricane Katrina. He is critical of the amount of funds spent by the Red Cross on disaster efforts for people with disabilities.  “The Red Cross spends far more on pets and animals than they spend on people with disabilities,” he says. Still, Timmons is willing to admit that some progress has been made in the area of disaster relief efforts for people with disabilities since Katrina. “We moved the needle a little bit,” he says.  When asked if he believes the disaster response for people with disabilities would be better today than it was during  Hurricane Katrina, he says “Depends on where it (the hurricane) hits. Louisiana has learned some lessons and things are a little bit better there.”  

Food 

These days, Timmons efforts have shifted from focusing on disaster relief to food relief for people with disabilities, which is an issue he doesn’t believe has been talked about enough.. “The past three years I’ve worked with her (his wife, Kelly) on food justice stuff, and being a “…crotchey, old observer of the movement.” 

Food insecurity, like disaster relief, is a major challenge faced by people with disabilities, with studies showing that half of food-insecure households with disabled adults experience deep food insecurity compared to one-third of all food-insecure households. Timmons acknowledges the intersection between the work he has done in the past around disaster relief for people with disabilities and the work he is currently focusing on now around food justice issues in the disability community.  “We’ve done a little bit of food work in the after of disasters which has always been very fulfilling, so it’s allowed the circles to overlap.” 

Timmons’ deep passion for food justice was inspired by the formation of an initiative by his wife Kelly called Kelly’s Kitchen, which exists with the purpose of  “…promoting healthy nutrition in the whole community, with a focus on providing education on ways to access healthy food, explore employment possibilities in the food and beverage industry for people with disabilities, ensure food security, and learn healthy preparation techniques.”  Timmons explains that “The goal of an advocate should be to work themselves out of a job, and food offers another opportunity to do that.” With food often needed in the aftermath of disasters, people with disability having access to food in an area they may be in where a disaster is critical.

Whether he’s advocating or creating solutions for better disaster relief efforts for people with disabilities, or working to assist people with disabilities in gaining access to healthy food, Timmons impact has helped people with disability have a voice at the table pertaining to issues such as food insecurity and disaster relief, which both seem to disproportionately impact the disability community.