Over the years, there has been more and more awareness about the needs of the disabled, which has been further heightened by homeland security issues.

"Approximately one out of every five people in the United States has some kind of disability," according to Jodi Van Horne, Emergency Services Medical Specialist for West Virginia University's Homeland Security Program. "We're not necessarily talking about people with physical disabilities, we're also talking about sensory and cognitive disabilities."

A seminar this week, one of three being held across the country, aims to find ways to deal with the needs of the disabled and how to meet them in emergencies. A few of those ways may already have been identified.

"We have clergy throughout the county. We have postal carriers that might be able to identify homes with people who have special needs," says Walter Smittle, Director of Jackson County's Office of Emergency Services. "We need to accumulate this information, so that when we do our planning, something happens that requires evacuation or they lose power, we can provide some assistance to make sure they maintain their normal life."

But it's not just people living in the area. Reports from a recent discussion on homeland security say West Virginia may be a destination or passing-through point for people leaving disaster sites.

"There are a lot of roads through West Virginia; but it's not necessarily easy to go through West Virginia," says Mark Fischer, Assistant Director for Homeland Security Programs for W.V.U. "But because the other roads are going to be potentially jammed, people will seek our interstates."

The Homeland Security Department at West Virginia University is among the groups involved in the education seminar.