Veronica over at Size Matters, Too has done a couple of shows (see below) on the need for accommodating larger people who have survived Katrina. You can listen for free this week and pay a small fee for archived versions.

I was especially impressed that the question of rebuilding New Orleans came up in the course of the discussion with Carole Cullum. Among the many lessons learned by this storm and especially the inadequacy of the response to it has to be: People are not all the same and as such they have different needs when they are victims of a crisis.

As Cullum said so eloquently in the interview, "the color of your skin, the size of your bank account or the size of your dress" should not determine whether you get help or not. I would add the ableness of your body.

Clearly the worst of America's problems were laid bare by Katrina. Instead of name-calling and scapegoating, it is my hope that America can start addressing the underlying causes of these problems. At the forefront of these underlying causes is the question of accommodations and universal design.

This theme is being echoed by Scott over at RollingRains. Scott has a number of links for people who are interested in working towards universal accessibility in the rebuild of New Orleans. This is a complex issue and will need a number of disciplines will be needed to make it happen. But it needs to be done!

In other places, I have lamented that New Orleans will never be the same. However, I want to make it clear. If New Orleans must change, I would like to see it become the most accessible city in the United States.

One final thought (and this is echoed in Scott's work as well): The people from the gulf coast from Texas to Florida had to go to other places to stay. Some of them will resettle there. The problems of accommodation will follow them wherever they go because physical and social barriers still exist. It has been fifteen years since the passage of the ADA. It is time for universal design. The travel industry is an important provider when such crises happen.

Universal design in the travel industry will not only make it possible for people of all shapes, sizes, ages, abilities and backgrounds to have a restful holiday or vacation, it will be there for as a resource in times of need.

So lesson learned. Now it requires us to act on those lessons.

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Check out Size Matters, Too

Bonus Show!! Show 72: Help In All Sizes II

Guest: Carole Cullum

An interview with Carole Cullum, Co-Chair National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. Attorney Cullum makes it plain when she discusses the need for acceptance with regard to people of size in this country. Hurricane Katrina blew the lid off of the reality of body size diversity and the unique needs and accomodations that are required and should be standard in providing aid to the victims and survivors.


Show 71: Hurricane Katrina: Help in All Sizes "A Special Edition of Size Matters"

Veronica co-hosts with Deb Lemire of Queen Bee Productions and interviews Valerie Carr of The City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio on the adoption of an entire Mississippi City, D'Iberville.

Hurricane Katrina devastated our country through lost lives, lost homes, lost relatives, family and friends. Many of thousands who's lives were spared now face an uncertain future as their needs are being met through the kindness of strangers. On today's show, we'll discuss the diversity of help that's needed in all sizes!

Big Fat Blog posted about the need for donations of plus-sized clothing.

I also received this via a sociology list serve:

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I spoke with a woman named Rosetta at Community Action in Alabama today. They are assisting hundreds of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. One of the things that is in very short supply is clothing for larger sized people. If you can spare any clothing above a size 16 for women, or above an XL for men, I would encourage you to send it to the address at the bottom of the email.

Rosetta has expressed that they also have a shortage of toiletry items (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, tampons and sanitary napkins). They can also use diapers in all sizes.

Please circulate this request widely.

The address to ship to is:
Community Action (Phone # 251-626-2646)
26440 North Pollard Rd.
Daphne, Alabama 36526

I wanted to see for myself some of the faces of the victims of the storm. I needed to humanize this event. The pictures I chose below are in an archive on the Times Picayune website that has been carrying extensive updates for the past few days and for which I've been grateful to have some idea of what is going on in my former hometown. Some of these are quite graphic, but I wanted Ample Ramblings viewers to understand that these are real people with real challenges. Not everyone survived.

It is apparent to everyone that something went wrong with this emergency plan. It is apparent that something needs to be done in the future. It is apparent that any plan needs to include a better understanding of the needs of persons facing disabilities, chronic illnessses and poverty. It is also clearer to me why understanding travel as integral part of a community and its economy is important.

This is the cost of stigma.



Here is the caption for this photo:

"With IV attachments dangling from her arm, Chrons disease patient Julianna Hammond sits outside East Jeff Hospital after her medicine ran out. She strokes the head of a stray dog she has taken in and named Katie after Hurricane Katrina. 9.3.05"

I lived in New Orleans for eight years, including eight long summers. The heat and humidity are stiffling. There is no relief outside of air conditioning and lots of water. Those were missing after the storm. Go sit in a steam sauna for five days and you might get an idea of what these people were living through.



Among the most vulnerable were nursing home residents. I'm still not clear why they were not moved before the storm came instead of several days after.

Would not let me load all the photos into one entry -- here are the remaining ones I found that moved me.

While his friend played Bach, this man danced on wheels while they waited to be rescued. Sometimes the human spirit amazes even cynical me.


Tourists were a large part of the people stranded by the storm. Travel can leave one quite vulnerable at times and this is perhaps one of the worst situations in which a tourist could have found himself or herself. New Orleans will rebuild their city and their tourism industry in the months/years to come. My hope is that they will find a way to incorporate universal design and inclusive travel into that rebuild.


Pictures of this grandmother's body left near a door at the convention centre have moved many during this past week. My fear is that this only the beginning of finding bodies left in their beds, wheelchairs or with their white canes, left to die as the city filled with water. My heart is heavy with the questions of what might have happened in a better world.

I have not been able to ignore the fact that many of the people stranded in New Orleans post-Katrina are persons with disabiities. I used to live in New Orleans about 20 years ago and as I've watched the ordeal unfold this week, I have thought long and hard about how I would have been able to get out. When I lived in New Orleans, I did not bother to own a car for two years. Even when I owned a car I rarely used it because many people get around in New Orleans via public transportation. Other than New York City, I cannot think of another US city in which people have little use for cars. So it didn't surprise me that many people just couldn't leave.

I will set aside my thoughts about how much this whole thing has gone wrong this week for a different blog in a different place. Here at Ample Ramblings, I want to share five observations that make sense in light of our interests in inclusive travel:

1. Many of the people stranded by the storm were tourists.

2. Many of the people stranded by the storm were persons with disabilities.

3. I believe many of the people who died in the storm and its aftermath were persons with disabilities.

4. Emergency responders should have been more prepared to deal with persons with disabilities.

5. The clean-up and rebuilding effort to come has a great deal of opportunity for creating a more inclusive New Orleans and the aftermath of this storm highlights in the importance of understanding both travel and universal design.

Scott Rains over at RollingRains is saying it better than I ever could.

If you can help, please do.