Inclusive Disaster Relief Lessons learned for People with Disabilities from Hurricane Helene (2024) in North Carolina, USA

People with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters such as hurricanes and tropical storms. They also experience greater difficulty obtaining relief aid as well as recovering from storm-related impacts. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of people with disabilities as well as parents of someone disabled following Tropical Storm Helene, which struck the western North Carolina region in late September 2024. In the present study, 40 disabled adults and 28 parents of a disabled child, teen, or adult reported on their experiences with disaster response services following Tropical Storm Helene. Respondents completed surveys consisting of both open-ended and selected-response items. Respondents shared personal experiences with evacuating, accessing community care stations, and barriers to obtaining resources. A number of recommendations are offered to promote more inclusive responses to future natural disasters. These recommendations include clearer communication about the availability of resources as well as providing additional ways to access them.