The Washington Statewide Independent Living Council recently had its website at wasilc.org redesigned to make it easier for people with disabilities and other community members to find information about independent living in their community of choice.
For CIEP Disability and Access and Functional Needs partners, below is a recap of the various web pages at wasilc.org that address emergency planning.
- Coalition on Inclusive Emergency Planning (CIEP) is a statewide group, led by WASILC, that advises emergency management and community advocates on how to help people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs prepare for and respond to emergencies. Near the bottom is an invitation to attend our monthly virtual meetings and to sign up to be on the CIEP email list. At the bottom there are a few resources.
- Resources on Preparing for Emergencies
- WASILC Document Library (selected items)
- About CIEP Learn more about how to get involved in WA State accessible emergency planning.
- Common Acronyms in Accessibility is a resource for interpreters, translators, and captioners, including city and tribal names, and other terms specific to WA State.
- State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL) has been drafted by our council members with input from the community to guide our work from 2025 to 2027. One of our goals in this SPIL is to provide emergency planning resources with consideration for people with disabilities and other access and functional needs.
- Tsunami Alert Accessibility Evaluation addresses the lack of visual alerting lights on outdoor hazard warning systems that alert people on the coast of an impending tsunami. Similar technologies are used to warn of lahars or mudflows that follow volcano eruptions, as well as tornadoes in the Midwest.
- Washington Emergency Planning Exercise CIEP helped convene an emergency planning exercise to prepare for a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami. This report shares the findings of that tabletop exercise.
- Washington State Disability, Access & Functional Needs Resource List This is a comprehensive list of disaster recovery and emergency management resources related to disability and access. It was updated April 2025.
- WASILC Position Paper: AFN Coordinator at EMD CIEP makes the case for having an individual dedicated to Access and Functional Needs (AFN) in emergency management following the successful models in California and Colorado. This document was instrumental in the legislation that provided funding for this position.
- WASILC News and Updates
- Past CIEP blogs are located on the left column.
- Quarterly CIEP ALERT newsletters from 2018 to 2024 are located lower on the right column.
- WASILC Community Resources (selected items)
Whether you are an individual in the community or in emergency management, I hope you will take some time to review these resources and incorporate what you have learned into your emergency plans.
Contact CIEP if you have any questions or want help incorporating access and functional needs into your emergency plans.
