MSR staff writer Damenica Ellis reports on how systemic disinvestment, redlining and gaps in emergency preparedness leave low-income communities and communities of color more vulnerable when natural disasters strike, drawing on the 2011 North Minneapolis tornado and new climate vulnerability research from Hennepin County and the Metropolitan Council.
Natural disasters such as tornadoes and flooding often have disproportionate impacts on low-income communities and renters, particularly affecting people of color. The tornado that tore through the Twin Cities in 2011, ripping from St. Louis Park to Blaine and causing the most damage in parts of North Minneapolis, is a stark example of this pattern.
Eric Waage, director of emergency management at Hennepin County, explains that each level of government carries a different responsibility when natural disasters strike. Because Hennepin County has a high concentration of cities compared to rural areas, cities serve as the first layer of response, followed by the county, then the state and finally the federal government, which traditionally serves as the financier of recovery.
“In Hennepin, we have kind of tweaked things to become especially focused on public warning,” Waage said.
Through partnerships with cities throughout the county, the department manages alert networks including outdoor sirens, highway message boards and the Emergency Alert System on TVs, phones and radios. For over a decade, the county has also partnered with Twin Cities Public Television to broadcast on TPT NOW, a 24/7 public safety channel that provides emergency alerts in English, Spanish, Hmong and Somali, a resource Waage said is unique in the United States…