Transcript:
Language barriers can make climate disaster recovery particularly challenging for certain immigrant communities.
Tuyet Duong of the National Asia Pacific Women's Forum said Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and some in local Vietnamese communities worked to get relief funds and other assistance.
“So everyone is trying to interact with FEMA at all stages of recovery … but they don't have any form of language help to help people explain how to access these services.”
Volunteers stepped in to help people fill out their relief applications, she said.
“For the next few days, we have 20 Vietnamese volunteers coming every day, and they set up their laptops in the hub.”
Since then, Congress has passed a law requiring federal relief efforts to take steps to attract people with limited English skills.
But the gap still exists. Therefore, Duong and other advocates say more training and resources are needed to ensure relief workers communicate effectively with English-speaking disaster survivors.
As a result, as climate change causes more extreme weather disasters, everyone can access information about relief assistance.
Report Credit: Ethan Freedman/Chavobart Digital Media
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