Via MyFoxAL.com: Update on Tuscaloosa from Mayor Maddox. The report tell us the city has suffered 39 confirmed deaths, over 1,000 injuries, and 570 missing persons. But this was the paragraph that caught my attention:
Maddox mentioned that there is a "desperate need" for individuals who speak Spanish and would be able to help translate for the Hispanic people who have suffered from the tornadoes and need help. Anyone who can assist with Spanish translation is encouraged to call 205-248-5045.
So Tuscaloosa has a large number of unilingual Hispanics living among a large number of unilingual anglophones, and a very small number of people who are bilingual. That suggests to me that the Hispanics are recent arrivals who have not yet had to learn much English, and the majority of the population haven't had to learn any other language at all.
This suggests to me that disaster preparedness should certainly include extensive programs teaching new immigrants English as a second language, whether in school or in the workplace. And the schools of Alabama should be teaching Spanish as a second language to every students, preferably starting in kindergarten.
