Being weather ready with an intellectual disability by Aaron Tanner
Alabama is well-known for its extreme weather. I know because I have lived here all of my life.
The state is right in the middle of the United States’ secondary tornado-prone region called Dixie Alley. Although spring is north Alabama’s typical tornado season, we can also get them in the late fall and winter if conditions are just right. Unlike tornadoes seen out in Kansas and Oklahoma, the ones here are usually wrapped in rain, are difficult to see due to the hilly and tree-covered terrain, and often occur at night when people are asleep.
For readers of Tennessee Valley Unite who are new to this area, I never want to experience what happened in April of 2011 ever again with the ferocious tornadoes that tore across our landscape. Most were without power for a week with gas shortages and disrupted cell phone lines.
Besides tornadoes, Alabama also experiences hot and humid summers. Unlike tornadoes, people don’t think of heat as being deadly. However, more Americans die on average from heat than tornadoes and hurricanes because high temperatures sneak up on individuals.
Our state has experienced devastating flooding, such as the Christmas Day floods of 2015. Because Alabama borders the Gulf of Mexico, the state sometimes experiences hurricanes in the summer and fall, such as Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Michael in 2018.
Snow and ice are rare here, but when it happens, many roads, schools, and businesses shut down. In 2014, Birmingham experienced a flash freeze on highways with less than two inches of snow during an event known as Snowmageddon, where many kids spent several nights in schools and motorists ran out of gas and were stranded.
Navigating severe weather is hard enough for a non-disabled person. How can a parent or caregiver communicate with someone who has an intellectual disability to get in the closet during a tornado warning or to come inside when lightning strikes nearby?
N2Y, a national non-profit that helps special needs students with language and communication issues, has partnered with NOAA’s National Weather Service and offers picture-based weather safety tips for those with cognitive disabilities. The same safety messages given by the National Weather Service are simplified and include pictures for people with different reading comprehension levels of what to do during dangerous scenarios such as wildfires, lightning, floods, heat, cold, and tornadoes.
Also, N2Y and the National Weather Service has a monthly newsletter for children with various cognitive disabilities with information about different weather phenomena and safety tips during dangerous natural events like tornadoes and thunderstorms. The newsletter is available in different reading levels from advanced to simple.
Weather does not discriminate between disabled and non-disabled people. With these tools, those with intellectual disabilities know what to do when Mother Nature is at her worst.
Click on NOAA’s website for the pictograms and newsletter. Also, share your severe weather plan in the comment section below.