When State Disaster Response Fails w/ Dr. Nadine Ortega

When State Disaster Response Fails w/ Dr. Nadine Ortega

From CounterPunch Radio by CounterPunch Radio

June 5, 2026 · 52 min

About this episode

Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt interviews Dr. Nadine Ortega about grassroots disaster recovery and the failures of state response in Hawaii.

In this episode of CounterPunch Radio, Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt speaks with Dr. Nadine Ortega, co-founder of Tagnawa Hawai’i, about grassroots mutual aid disaster recovery. Dr. Ortega breaks down the socio-economic and historical conditions that have led to the recent Kona Low flooding on O’ahu and the 2023 Lahaina, Maui fires, which have disproportionately affected Native Hawaiian, Filipino, and other immigrant communities. She shares stories about the importance of cross-class and interethnic organizing when state-run disaster response fails. Visit Tagnawa.org for more information. The post When State Disaster Response Fails w/ Dr. Nadine Ortega appeared first on CounterPunch.org .

People in this episode

Host: Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt

Guest: Dr. Nadine Ortega

Topics covered

  • disaster response
  • grassroots organizing
  • mutual aid
  • socio-economic conditions
  • community impact
  • Hawaiian history

Keywords

  • disaster recovery
  • Kona Low flooding
  • Lahaina fires
  • Native Hawaiian
  • Filipino communities
  • interethnic organizing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Tagnawa Hawai’i

Places: O’ahu, Maui, Hawai’i, Lahaina

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