AB 1930 (Torrico): Help All Californians in a Disaster

Earthquakes. Floods. Wildfires. California has long been prone to disasters, and emergency preparedness planning at the state and local levels is critical for ensuring our state is equipped to recover from any disaster situation. As home to over 6 million limited English proficient (LEP) individuals, however, California also poses unique challenges for disaster responders. Forty percent of Asian American and Latino communities are LEP, and certain ethnic groups including Central Americans and Southeast Asians have even higher rates of limited English proficiency. The state’s emergency preparedness planning must account for the needs of our state’s significant LEP population.

In any emergency situation, communication with the public is critical for conveying important instructions and procedures, thereby saving lives and minimizing injuries and damage. Unfortunately, real-life examples illustrate the lack of emergency communication in languages other than English, and the devastating impact it has on LEP communities.

• During the Hurricane Katrina disaster, evacuation notices were not provided in languages other than English, even in cities with sizeable immigrant and refugee populations. Congressional testimony highlighted the story of a Vietnamese man in Mississippi, who spent five days in a wrecked fishing boat and was nearly killed because he did not understand the evacuation orders issued prior to Hurricane Katrina.
• More locally, Contra Costa County in California instituted a multi-lingual warning system after many limited English speaking residents were not warned of a neighboring refinery accident and fire. The accident sent a plume of black smoke and hundreds of residents to hospitals with respiratory problems.
• The recent wildfires in southern California struck parts of cities having a significant population of individuals with limited proficiency in English, potentially affecting almost 300,000 such individuals. News reports highlighted the frustration and confusion during evacuations for individuals unable to understand English.

AB 1930 (Torrico) is a cost-effective measure that builds upon our existing emergency preparedness system to respond to the need.  More information on AB 1930 is provided in the RESOURCES section, at right.