Discussion: Working With Community Systems

3

Natural Disasters

Working with Communities

Name

Affiliation

Course

Professor

Date

Working with communities

Tropical storm Imelda landed in Texas as a tropical storm. The storm was the fifth wettest tropical cyclone to hit. A state of disaster declaration was declared. The storm was characterized by significant flooding, with many road closures. Five people succumbed to storm-related deaths and several people were injured (CDP, 2019). The Center for Disaster Philanthropy, a human service organization, was integral in the aftermath of the storm.

Ethical and cultural consideration that is theoretically relevant and practically helpful should formulate an important background of establishing a practical path for addressing disasters. These considerations include identification of the vulnerabilities, wants and abilities of marginalized communities. There is need to eliminate social inequities to help in aid access to prevent the exclusion of minorities, women and the poor (CDP, 2019). Cultural traditions tend to keep some disaster victims out of the formal aid system and addressing it appropriately is important. Secondly, everyone within national borders, including displaced people, and refugees, should have equal rights to decent, humane treatment, as well as to security and assistance when needed. Failure to acknowledge that local people are the first respondents and know what they need to respond to an emergency should not be overlooked.

When the affected community is not knowledgeable of danger and vulnerability nor sufficiently empowered to mitigate a disaster, it is unlikely to have a say in disaster response and reconstruction needs. In an event of a disaster, employees should not impose their values and biases to the victims (Geale, 2012). Services should be provided to all victims without bias in regards to culture, race, religion, ethnicity, ability, age, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. They should also be aware of multiculturalism in society and respect the cultures and beliefs of and victims.

Reference

CDP. (2019) Tropical Storm Imelda. CDP

Geale, S. (2012). The ethics of disaster management. Disaster prevention and management, 21(4).