Title Pending 6325

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.Despite the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the United States in 1990, people with disabilities have continued to face marginalization via exclusive policies, practices, and procedures. This remains especially apparent within local and federal disaster management strategies, despite the widespread acceptance of inclusive modern theories. As a result, it has been recognized that people with disabilities are two to four times more likely to perish during a natural disaster event than an able-bodied individual. Responding to this trend, this research sought to determine what societal and infrastructural gaps create challenges for people with physical disabilities when preparing for and responding to hurricanes and the hazards associated with them. New Orleans, Louisiana, was selected as the study region due to the high prevalence of natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods, and heat waves, as well as the growing population of people with disabilities. This study found persistent gaps within government strategies, healthcare systems, community networks, and individual preparedness capacity, creating a baseline of distrust and uncertainty within the disability community. These shortcomings are then insufficiently met with well-intended, but often misguided or underfunded initiatives by non-government organizations and grassroots mutual aid collectives, usually in the form of social entrepreneurship.