Research Mentor(s)
Rebekah-Paci Green
Description
The Flood back in November caused by the atmospheric river severely impacted Whatcom County. While impacts to Bellingham were moderate, such as street closures and some flooded businesses, impacts to the surrounding agricultural towns we felt heavily by farmers and farm workers. Towns like Everson and Sumas which have a high Latinx and Hispanic farmworker population saw extensive damage to their homes. This presentation breaks down language statistics in Whatcom County and identifies gaps in the communication of critical public service announcements as seen in this past disaster. This poster will go over migrant and domestic farmworker information which provides more context for the County’s economic sector and regulations. To better understand how farmworkers were impacted, I volunteered with an organization that created a survey that we used to guide our conversations with impacted community members who potentially needed resources. When reviewing these surveys, it became clear that non-English speakers were not targeted by local town governments when distributing emergency information, which left a significant part of the population in the dark before, during, and after the disaster. While this poster focuses on explaining the context of the disaster and the vulnerabilities, it also offers recommendations for closing the gap in communication.
Document Type
Event
Start Date
May 2022
End Date
May 2022
Location
Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)
Department
CE - Environmental Studies
Genre/Form
student projects; posters
Type
Image
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Improving Emergency Response Outreach
Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)
The Flood back in November caused by the atmospheric river severely impacted Whatcom County. While impacts to Bellingham were moderate, such as street closures and some flooded businesses, impacts to the surrounding agricultural towns we felt heavily by farmers and farm workers. Towns like Everson and Sumas which have a high Latinx and Hispanic farmworker population saw extensive damage to their homes. This presentation breaks down language statistics in Whatcom County and identifies gaps in the communication of critical public service announcements as seen in this past disaster. This poster will go over migrant and domestic farmworker information which provides more context for the County’s economic sector and regulations. To better understand how farmworkers were impacted, I volunteered with an organization that created a survey that we used to guide our conversations with impacted community members who potentially needed resources. When reviewing these surveys, it became clear that non-English speakers were not targeted by local town governments when distributing emergency information, which left a significant part of the population in the dark before, during, and after the disaster. While this poster focuses on explaining the context of the disaster and the vulnerabilities, it also offers recommendations for closing the gap in communication.