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Climate change is increasing environmental hazards and marginalized communities are baring the brunt of the impacts across the globe, across the nation, and in our own backyard.

Risk, impact, and capacity to cope evolve throughout a person’s life cycle. Vulnerabilities may emerge and change, compound, and persist over long periods – leading to disparities in income, inequality based on gender, ethnicity, household and social status. This can contribute to the intergenerational transmission of vulnerability and widening inequalities.

Area of focus: Tulsa, Oklahoma

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Tulsa's highest levels of social vulnerability are disproportionately concentrated along its flood plains, leaving the populations least equipped to prepare for and recover from hazards such as floods perpetually at risk.

Our team conducted research into current disaster mitigation and response approaches in Tulsa concluding that despite the frequency and devastating impact of this natural hazard, the measures are inadequate.

The most prominent proposed measures are individually-driven; and efforts at a more robust community response have fallen off or been abandoned completely.

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In Tulsa, and anywhere else where riverine, urban, and flash floods are prevalent natural disasters quickly become environmental hazards. Roadways are eroded or blocked, refineries and other industrial plants increase water and air pollution, homes and businesses are submerged or significantly damaged, and people suffer devastation that has yet to be inclusively quantified.

Despite efforts for mitigation and flood insurance incentives, the threat of loss of shelter, income, and life stability is still immanent when these floods occur for all Tulsans. Tulsa's most socially vulnerable communities not only face the highest likelihood of experiencing these effects, but their losses are not appropriately recorded because of their lack of reportable property damage and lack of access to resources for recovery.

Refineries and other industrial plants increase health risks during and after Tulsa floods.

Down trees, power lines, and other debris cut off access to medical and other emergency response aid.

Riverine floods along major waterways with very large drainage basins, such as the Arkansas River and Bird Creek – This happens when excessive rain upstream collects into rivers and streams which then overflow their banks. This kind of flooding builds slowly, giving downstream areas more warning. However, due to debris, water velocity, and the depth of flooding, riverine flooding can cause more damage than other types.

Flash floods along tributary creeks and water ways that ultimately drain into the Arkansas River or Bird Creek – This kind of flooding happens when storms dump up to 5 inches of rain an hour. When the soil is already soaked, long, hard rains can accumulate into deadly walls of water that build in minutes and are strong enough to cause extensive damage to people, property, and the landscape. Rainfall in the City of Tulsa averages 39 inches per year, but thunderstorms can, and have, dumped more than half that amount on the city in a few hours, causing widespread flooding and devastating flash floods.

Urban floods that impact streets and transportation systems, as well as localized drainage and nuisance flooding problems – Streets flood and sewers back up when rain runoff from buildings and paved surfaces collects in an urban setting. Culverts and drains clogged with debris add to the problem. Storm drains are for rain, not pollutants or debris. The overland flow of rainwater on and between properties can be a nuisance due to poor landscape drainage design.

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Hold regular community listening sessions. Partner with organizations like MetCares, which has had success with these events in the past and established trust within the North Tulsa community. Take minutes at these meetings and ensure they are included in City Council conversations around disaster preparedness and response. Meetings must be consistent and would preferably include a meal.

Tulsa

Community

Disaster

Response

System

Offer neighborhood disaster response planning meetings. Citizens can request meetings to be held in or around their neighborhoods, where the community can develop a disaster plan and neighborhood map together. Disaster kits and database information should be available at these meetings.

Partnerships with other regions of the city. Designated volunteers from South Tulsa/East/West Tulsa to respond depending on where the flood (or other hazard) hits. *Identify response skills/ capacity/commitment.

Disaster Kit development and distribution. Partnering with local agencies like North Tulsa Health Coalition, Greenwood, program administrator and volunteers will prepare kits for North Tulsa residents in place of asking people who may not have access/resources to prepare kits themselves. Kits can include all the recommended flood safety items gloves, googles, rain boots, flashlights, radios, etc. Potentially partner with other entities like the Community Foodbank and Tulsa Dream Center, who already serve this area, to ask for volunteers and share information about community preparedness and response. Pass out kits at food bank events/soup kitchens/day centers etc.

Ensure that hazard prep and recovery are on City Council agendas to enable the sharing of resources, gathering of volunteers, and to increase awareness around the challenges different areas of the city face preparing for and reacting to a disaster .

Our Proposed Solution:

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