Do you have rapport with some of the younger, stronger neighbors on your street? Neighbors you could approach about your vulnerabilities and concerns regarding a large-scale disaster or even a local emergency?
If you lack that rapport, now would be a perfect time to cultivate genuine neighborly friendships. Do you bake? Make soups? Repair things? Babysit? Do you have a veggie garden that allows you to share your harvest? Give it some thought. How could you make genuine outreaches?
I can attest to this from personal experience in 3 Earthquakes and 3 Civil Riots AND from searching out Lessons Learned from each national disaster.
In all disasters I have studied, missteps -- primarily, communication breakdowns -- were made among the professionals that cost senior lives. The most dramatic is the final report about the Maui fire, made public in October 2024, revealing that 75% of fatalities were age 64 or older. It is heartbreaking.
However, the primary reasons our age group suffers disproportionately comes down to US. First, many of us older people are often NOT prepared at all; or, second, if we have of a kit, it is likely insufficient and inappropriate for our aging needs; and third, most seniors are not networked with younger, stronger neighbors who care, living on their same street, or connected to community or religious groups committed to include them.
To those in the Intermountain West: Were you suddenly, starkly aware that you were ill-prepared for the sustained loss of power and unseasonably cold temps? Did your home/yard sustain damage? Were you dependent upon others near-by?
