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Experts warn that older people with limited mobility and chronic health conditions that require the use of electrical medical devices are a growing threat to the elderly community, especially as Hurricane Ian hits Southwest Florida and risks increase due to the effects of climate change.
Dozens of people killed in Lee County’s worst tornadoes are 50 and older, many in their 70s, 80s and even 90s. That highlights the increased risk to those who are least likely to escape such risks and those most likely to be affected by the problems.
Climate change will make storms wetter and more intense, but also increase the frequency of heat waves, like the one that scorched the Pacific Northwest the past two summers and killed many elderly people. As of 2011 In 2018, the drought that fueled fires like the one that burned Paradise, California, and killed 85 people, worsened.
Eric Kleinberg, a professor of sociology at New York University, said: “The fact that people who are physically weakened and socially isolated in these events are more likely to die is not surprising. But it is politically important.” “If we know people are at risk, why don’t we do more to help them?”
Klingberg, who wrote the book “Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago” about the July 1995 heat wave that killed more than 700 black and elderly people, called Ian a mere foresight.
“We’ve seen this happen in Chicago, (Hurricane) Katrina, (Hurricane) Sandy, and we’ll see it more as our world grows,” he said.
Florida, in particular, is prone to climate hazards, sits in the path of many Atlantic hurricanes, and has a large share of retirees with warm weather, extensive beaches, and relatively cheap housing. About 29% of Lee County’s population is 65 and older.
One of Ian’s most fascinating stories illustrates the dangers. Joni Lauder’s 86-year-old mother, Karen Lauder, who uses a wheelchair, initially refused to leave. But when the water in her house began to rise above her head, she was unable to run away, so her son had to save her from the ordeal.
The dire dangers some face when they lose power were especially evident in Lee County, where an 89-year-old man needed oxygen after the power went out and his backup generator failed.
Florida has tried to address some of these issues by setting up pre-registered shelters where people with medical conditions who need electricity for oxygen, dialysis and equipment such as ventilators can stay.
AARP Florida Director Jeff Johnson praised Special Shelters, the state’s county emergency management agencies, for modernizing and improving evacuation operations over the past two decades.
“There is room for improvement, but it is wrong to say that they are not doing anything,” he said.
Home-based networks of care and services for seniors, as well as neighborhood associations and faith communities, can also help identify socially marginalized seniors, Johnson said.
Several hurricane survivors sit in wheelchairs outside a special shelter at a Fort Myers elementary school Thursday.
Meryl Boucher, 60, stayed there because Ian had demolished his house and needed electricity for the CPAP machine he uses for severe sleep apnea.
Bauchert said dozens of residents from one senior living facility were staying there, many of whom had mobility issues or depended on electrical medical equipment to stay alive.
Large oxygen tanks were first used for people with breathing problems, but were later replaced by mechanical oxygen generators for individual use. Conditions improved with water service restored, but the early days were difficult, Bauchert said.
Since many people are too weak to go outside and do not have sewerage services, using the toilet involves placing a plastic bag in the toilet and sitting, sometimes with assistance.
“You were actually doing your business in a garbage bag. Take the garbage bag, tie a knot, throw it in the garbage can, and put another bag in for the next person,” he said.
Governor Ron DeSantis recognizes Ian’s disproportionate impact on the state’s older residents and the need for local groups to help them recover.
“I hit areas with a lot of elderly residents, and I met a lot of people,” DeSantis said at a news conference Thursday. “So you’re probably an 85-year-old man. You might not be able to do the household maintenance you used to do when you were younger.”
While the death toll of more than 100 people and the destruction to Ian’s property was devastating, Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 caused the worst death and destruction.
Researchers found that nearly half of those killed in Katrina in Louisiana were 75 or older. A 2006 Senate committee report on moving thousands of elderly, sick and disabled people out of New Orleans found that neighbors with cars at all levels of government were fleeing the city.
Seniors are more vulnerable to heatstroke in the days and weeks after major hurricanes.
In the year Of the nine New Orleans residents who were killed by the heat after Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana in 2021, and of the 10 heat-related deaths, only four in each group were under the age of 60. Parish Coroner’s Office.
In the year The aftermath of Hurricane Irma in 2017 was particularly devastating. The direct effects of the storm killed more than 90 people in the United States, but researchers at the University of South Florida and Brown University found that 433 more Florida nursing homes lost their lives in the 90 days of the storm, compared to the same period in 2015. When there are no storms.
The study was conducted as a result of heat-related deaths at a Broward County nursing home where 12 residents were killed after the storm knocked out an air conditioner and staff did not move them to another facility. Later, an administrator and three nurses were charged.
Kleinberg, a sociologist who wrote about Chicago’s heat deaths, blames society for caring for its elders every day, not just during emergencies.
“We live in an aging society and in this way we are victims of our own success,” he said. “Europe has the same problem. Also Japan and Korea. People are living for decades because of medical science, but we don’t know how to take care of them.”
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