People with Disabilities are Not Innately Vulnerable (Part 6)

But when they are left out of the adaptation planning process — the consequences can be disastrous

Saxton said significant or whole populations of flood-prone cities will be forced to relocate to higher ground. 

She fears that most senior planners in the public and private sector are not taking the unique needs of the disability community into account.

For example, an able-bodied person can relocate from a ranch house to a third-floor walkup apartment with merely a little inconvenience posed by stairs. 

A person with a disability cannot be accommodated by multifamily housing without an elevator, by split-level, single-family housing, or a ground-floor unit of any kind of dwelling that has a narrow doorway, an inaccessible restroom, a kitchen with islands, or other barriers to mobility.