Participant Profile
Leading the Blind
Individuals with disabilities face numerous challenges when disaster strikes, says John Duplessis. They may be stranded and unable to walk or drive to safety. They may be unable to communicate effectively with first responders. They may not have access to critical resources when they take refuge in an unfamiliar city.
When Duplessis addressed the Preparedness for All Conference on the subject of disaster preparedness for people with visual impairments, he wasn’t speaking theoretically. Two years ago, he was a blind man escaping New Orleans after the levees broke in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A former boxer left legally blind by an injury in the ring, Duplessis, with 20/300 eyesight and a near complete loss of central vision, drove 16 hours from New Orleans to Birmingham and stayed with a good Samaritan for two weeks.
“I spoke to the conference about the importance of people who are blind and legally blind having resources and some sort of plan for an emergency,” Duplessis says. “I originally never had a plan for emergencies. But going through Hurricane Katrina, I’ve learned some things that I need to do to prepare before a major disaster occurs.”
Adversity and Adaptation
The aftermath of the hurricane threw that oversight into sharp relief. Duplessis had pursued higher education after his career–ending injury in 1995; he earned his master’s degree in social work mere months before the hurricane and had been working with Armstrong Family Services in New Orleans to help the agency better address the needs of disabled and homeless clients. He escaped the city just before Hurricane Katrina hit—“in the 11th hour,” he says—and returned after the storm had passed, only to leave again after the levees broke.
Once Duplessis arrived in Birmingham, he found himself in the same shoes as his former clients, with no permanent place to live, no job, and only $51 in his pocket. He looked for a job that would accommodate both his disability and his desire to help others facing similar challenges. That search led to the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services, which hired Duplessis as a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reintegration counselor to help fellow displaced Katrina evacuees find emergency assistance and human services. Now a Birmingham resident, Duplessis works for MAPS (Mapping Access to Program Services), a job–seeking resource for individuals with disabilities, as a disability navigator. His daily life, he says, is “consumed with trying to help people”—helping disabled individuals find employment and helping career center staff to better serve disabled job seekers and provide resources and access to special programs.
“My time is consumed with looking for resources, researching services that I can provide for people,” Duplessis says. “It [his disability] has been a very difficult struggle, and that gives me an understanding of what it takes to be successful. I’m always looking for needs that I can help someone with.”
Sharing His Story
Participating in the Preparedness for All Conference, he says, was like “a pre–Katrina flashback,” calling to mind some of his scariest moments in the hope of sparing other people with disabilities from a similar ordeal. “One step is establishing a network of communication, of people they can communicate with in case of a major disaster,” Duplessis says. “And have five or 10 people, at least. I had four people ask me to come along with them before the hurricane hit, and I turned down all four of those offers. But the fifth offer, in the hour that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, I decided to take. If I had not had that many resources out there communicating with me, I probably wouldn’t be here today.”
Duplessis recommends that individuals with disabilities establish their communication networks in advance, involving friends and family members who are aware of the many challenges that may arise, and to maintain a connection with those networks as much as possible throughout an emergency. He also suggests that service agencies take the initiative to reach out to people with disabilities in cases of emergency to offer services and programs that cater to their particular challenges.
The Preparedness for All Conference was, he says, a great opportunity to reach out and share his experience and resources with others dealing with disabilities and with the emergency management agencies who can help them. “There were times when I really was scared for my life,” Duplessis says. “I had nowhere to stay, and I had no plan for emergencies. I hope I can help somebody else who may be in my position to avoid going through what I’ve been through.”
