Administrators registering the elderly in advance of severe weather

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By LISA MUNGER / Lincoln Journal Star

The extra threat that severe weather poses to the elderly -- especially those without neighbors or family to check in on them -- has led emergency planners to try registering them in advance.

“In Hallam, the older people just kind of vanished,” said DeLayne Peck, administrator of Lincoln Information for the Elderly (LIFE), a division of the Lincoln Area Agency on Aging.

“They are a hidden population. No one knows their location. They are cut off from essential services.”

Peck said dangerous weather, like the tornado that leveled Hallam in 2004 or the October 1997 snowstorm that felled trees across Lincoln, creates special challenges for elderly people, particularly those who are disabled or fragile but still live at home.

A partnership spearheaded by advocates for the aged and city officials hopes to address this concern.

LIFE is testing a disaster registry, a database intended to help emergency responders locate isolated or immobile elderly people even if typical landmarks such as street signs are out of place.  

“With the Hallam tornado, it was a featureless debris field. No landmarks whatsoever,” Peck said. “How do you find people in these circumstances?  How do you evacuate populations that may have mobility, visual, mental impairments in an orderly way?”

Some cities failed to answer these questions before disaster struck.  According to LIFE, 70 percent of the fatalities caused by Hurricane Katrina were among people 65 and older, even though they comprised only 15 percent of the New Orleans area population.

Combining lessons learned from Katrina and from other disasters with new technology, the registry will use global positioning satellites to pinpoint the location of homes. When someone signs up for the registry, their property records upload to a database that will be made available to emergency responders.

There are no special protocols in place to rescue these populations, said Lincoln Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief Bruce Sellon.  

However, all fire engines will soon be equipped with on-board computers, displaying aerial photographs, exact property lots, storm drains, water mains and other details, Sellon said.

Some seniors lunching at the Downtown Senior Center said the new registry sounds like it makes sense, but they didn’t know if they would sign up.

Clarence Romans said he feels prepared for an emergency. He keeps extra supplies on hand, like medications, food, water and a flashlight.

His apartment complex on the 700 block of South 18th Street caters to disabled and retired residents.  He said he’s supposed to go to the laundry room in the basement in an emergency, but he’s only had to do it once in the 17 years he’s lived there.

“I’m still mobile; it would be different for an invalid,” Romans said, pointing out a problem Peck and his cohorts seek to address. “I wonder if people on oxygen could get to a shelter?”

Though his visual impairment places him in the registry’s target population, Terry Heany said he feels prepared, too. When he moved into his cottage at Tabitha Village, employees told him  where to go in a tornado emergency. Plus, his son lives in town and would check on him, he said.

While some people, like Romans, have stocked supplies for an emergency, Peck said not all seniors are well-prepared.

“We want to get preparedness information into the hands of more vulnerable populations,” he said.

Peck said he hopes publicity surrounding the fall launch of the registry will get elderly people thinking about what they would do in an emergency.  

Still, other seniors said they aren’t worried about a disaster.  

 “I’m not worried about a flood; I live on the fourth floor,” said Jack Bridge, who lives in the Haymarket’s Creamery Building. “I don’t care if there are 10 tornadoes; the building’s not going anywhere.”  

Bridge’s wife, Florence, said she has concerns about getting out of the apartment in an emergency because she uses a wheelchair.

“If the electricity goes out, the elevator stops working,” she said. “I’m supposed to put a sticker on window to let firefighters know I am handicapped.”  

Peck said once the registry is launched, people will be able to sign up through the LIFE office, some doctors’ offices or through other aging advocacy groups. The Department of Homeland Security will principally fund the project.

Reach Lisa Munger at lmunger@journalstar.com or 473-7306.