Many assumptions are made based on little data. What we know from scientific studies of disasters is that minority, poor and underprivileged communities suffer more from disasters. However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can’t verify that with actual data, since they have not been able to collect the information in the past.
Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.