I get this question a lot. For me, it’s someone who uses the law to empower people whose rights are overlooked or outright violated in a disaster. We advocate for people who were socially vulnerable and politically marginalized even before the disaster, and therefore especially susceptible to human rights abuse after a disaster.
Hurricane Katrina was my first direct experience with a mega-disaster, and it’s important to be clear about what happened. The strength of the storm and where it landed are accepted as reasons so many people died, or struggled to stay afloat in the drawn-out aftermath. But life was fated for people across the Gulf Coast long before Katrina, by government policies that determined who lived where; whether and when they could escape; and if those who made it out were encouraged to return home. I saw the same thing play out in Haiti, and witnessed it from a distance in the Philippines, Nepal, and virtually everywhere else an earthquake hit, a hurricane struck, or a drought crept in. The most important thing I learned from Katrina and these other events is that disasters do the most damage along political fault-lines that already exist.
I also learned something else from Katrina. Continue reading “What is a Disaster Lawyer, Anyway?”
