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Effect of Hurricane Katrina on Elderly and Caregivers

Thu, 09/08/2005 - 12:00am — Karen Stevenson
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A sampling of stories about the effects of the hurricane on the elderly and their caregivers includes the following:

An amazing blog by Joe Angelelli uses Google maps and satellite pictures to show the nursing homes in New Orleans that are under water. He has also compiled lists of nursing homes that are accepting the evacuated residents and the supplies that they need donated to help care for them.

The Alzheimers Daily News by Mark and Ellen Warner reports that Louisiana and Mississippi needs products for at least 3,000 seniors with Alzheimers, that due to the trauma of the hurricane a number of seniors who did not exhibit symptoms of dementia prior to the hurricane are now doing so, and that local associations are expected to see a huge increase in the number of caregivers requiring assistance. They provide information on how to get donations to the Alzheimers associations in that region.

St. Rita's nursing home in St. Bernard Parish lost 32 of 60 residents in the flood following Hurricane Katrina. For some reason, the nursing home was not evacuated. In a story posted September 7 in the New York Times, Gardiner Harris describes the horrific sight of the bodies of the elderly residents found after the waters receded. No one knows why they weren't evacuated, and the emergency services have no record that they called for help. The story illustrates the need for nursing homes to have rock-solid evacuation plans in place, and that families may want to follow up as a second line of defense to be sure the evacuations took place.

A September 8 article in Indy Star by Vicki Smith and Malcolm Ritter describes the ordeal of Bruce Barnes of New Orleans who tried to rescue 78-year-old blind father, his 75-year-old arthritic mother, and his 62-year-old aunt from an underpass in Metairie, Louisiana. He reported that he was unable to fight off the crowds of younger healthier people in order to get his parents on an evacuation bus, and had to watch bus after bus pass them by. When a bus designated for the elderly and disabled was finally sent, he and his aunt were not allowed to accompany his parents, and they didn't want to be split up. They eventually got picked up by a helicopter. The story illustrates the need for caregivers to plan ahead of time for how they will handle evacuation of their elderly relatives.

A sampling of stories about the effects of the hurricane on the elderly and their caregivers includes the following:

An amazing blog by Joe Angelelli uses Google maps and satellite pictures to show the nursing homes in New Orleans that are under water. He has also compiled lists of nursing homes that are accepting the evacuated residents and the supplies that they need donated to help care for them.

The Alzheimers Daily News by Mark and Ellen Warner reports that Louisiana and Mississippi needs products for at least 3,000 seniors with Alzheimers, that due to the trauma of the hurricane a number of seniors who did not exhibit symptoms of dementia prior to the hurricane are now doing so, and that local associations are expected to see a huge increase in the number of caregivers requiring assistance. They provide information on how to get donations to the Alzheimers associations in that region.

St. Rita's nursing home in St. Bernard Parish lost 32 of 60 residents in the flood following Hurricane Katrina. For some reason, the nursing home was not evacuated. In a story posted September 7 in the New York Times, Gardiner Harris describes the horrific sight of the bodies of the elderly residents found after the waters receded. No one knows why they weren't evacuated, and the emergency services have no record that they called for help. The story illustrates the need for nursing homes to have rock-solid evacuation plans in place, and that families may want to follow up as a second line of defense to be sure the evacuations took place.

A September 8 article in Indy Star by Vicki Smith and Malcolm Ritter describes the ordeal of Bruce Barnes of New Orleans who tried to rescue 78-year-old blind father, his 75-year-old arthritic mother, and his 62-year-old aunt from an underpass in Metairie, Louisiana. He reported that he was unable to fight off the crowds of younger healthier people in order to get his parents on an evacuation bus, and had to watch bus after bus pass them by. When a bus designated for the elderly and disabled was finally sent, he and his aunt were not allowed to accompany his parents, and they didn't want to be split up. They eventually got picked up by a helicopter. The story illustrates the need for caregivers to plan ahead of time for how they will handle evacuation of their elderly relatives.