Liz Treston: Survivor on a Mission
As Superstorm Sandy churned toward the beach beside her Long Island home, Liz Treston went outside to look around. It was the first high tide, and the wind was strong, but Treston, who lives with a C6 complete spinal cord injury, could easily move around in her power wheelchair.
“I thought, ‘Ok, this is nothing,’” she says. “’We can still walk around. We’re good.’”
Like most of her neighbors, Treston had decided not to evacuate despite the call to do so from local officials. A year earlier, they’d left home for Hurricane Irene only to return to minimal damage. They assumed that Sandy – not even classified as a hurricane at that point – would be the same. But that night, as winds rocked the house and water rushed through the basement door, Treston realized her mistake. She grabbed a pen and wrote her Social Security number on her arm, just in case.
Treston survived – but her life was upended. Over the next few chaotic weeks, she struggled to find a place to stay and to gather the supplies she needed for daily life, including medication and catheters. Her new adaptive van was destroyed, forcing her at one point to power her wheelchair along a busy road with her service dog beside her.
“If you’re not prepared, you have to be a survivor and a MacGyver at the same time,” she said. “But why go through all that anxiety and stress if you don’t have to?”
Treston soon became a fierce advocate for emergency preparedness. She helped found the Long Beach Community Organizations Active in Disasters and eventually was elected to the Long Beach, N.Y. City Council, where she continues to spotlight the need for accessible services and inclusion in emergency planning efforts.
Join Our Movement
What started as an idea has become a national movement. With your support, we can influence policy and inspire lasting change.
Become an Advocate
As she works to strengthen community response, Treston urges people with disabilities to immediately build their own plans. Make lists of daily needs. Gather extra supplies. Know where to go and what local organizations to contact for help.
“The emergency management people will tell you: ‘Plan for a disaster during a blue-sky moment,’” she says. “It’s true. Don’t wait till it’s cold and the wind is blowing. Start the process now.”
Once you’re ready, she says, don’t make the same mistake she did: evacuate when the time comes.
“The first thing I tell people is ‘You’ve got to get out,’” Treston says. “Will evacuating be 100 percent perfect? No. Will you have some comfort at 50 percent? Yes. And that will get you to the next day.”