Matthew & Florence taught NC lessons: Storms like Dorian threaten old people - North Carolina Health News

The serious perils that older people in North Carolina face during hurricanes are lurking again in the gales and rainy torrents of the powerful storm Dorian. Across the state, prepared professionals and private citizens are stepping up to minimize harm.

By Thomas Goldsmith

The specters of catastrophic hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Florence last year are looming darkly over this week’s preparations for Hurricane Dorian, the latest unwanted newcomer to the Tar Heel State.

Across North Carolina on Wednesday, older people and those charged with looking after them made preparations, checked registries of vulnerable residents, and pondered some lessons of these recent massive storms. For older North Carolinians, Florence created a particularly tragic legacy where two out of every three of the 39 people killed by the storm were 65 or older.

shows an old man with a sharp gaze sitting in a room with many cots and blankets — At 103, Wilmington resident George Alsberg was likely one of the oldest voluntary evacuees of Hurricane Florence in 2018. He spent time in a shelter in Raleigh while he waited out the storm. Photo credit: Taylor Knopf

“Our counties overall do a tremendous job of working with the Emergency Management Center and local EMS,” said Laura Alvarico. She’s the director of the Albemarle Commission Area Agency on Aging and works with 10 coastal county governments to make sure seniors are safe. “What worries me is that flooding can be the worst part of a hurricane.”

The likelihood of coastal flooding from Dorian meant that operators of long-term care centers were keeping close contact with Alvarico and others about whether assisted-living and nursing homes should evacuate residents or tough out the storm in place.

“We are working with all the long-term care centers to make sure they are either evacuating or if they are staying put that we get a copy of their emergency plans,” said Alvarico, who works with Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell and Washington counties.

“They put a lot of consideration into where the storm is headed, also their elevation, also the things they have in place, like generators.”

Checking one by one

A bill to require generators in assisted living facilities stalled in the General Assembly this spring when industry representatives argued the requirement would cost more than state reimbursement could cover.

When older people in the community register for county assistance such as in-home aides, they can be placed on a special needs registry, like the one in New Hanover County, that details what help they’ll need in times of disaster. Staff at the nonprofit agency Resources for Seniors in Raleigh were already calling people on the Wake County registry Wednesday, said Heather Burkhardt, program manager.

“We are calling all of our clients and their family members to see if they are in need,” Burkhardt said. “We do a pre-disaster call-down to see if they need anything in the next few days.”

The Resources for Seniors staff, like other experienced workers across the state, plan for needs that others might not predict. When a storm nears, they print out long physical lists of phone numbers they will need and take them home, so they can check with clients via cell phones even if electricity is down. If agencies can’t fill their in-home aide slots, social workers make sure family members, friends, or neighbors can fill in.

‘Floodwaters can be deadly’

floodcdc_exhaust — The exhaust or fumes from a portable generator could kill you in minutes if you breathe it in. Image courtesy the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“So many of our clients depend on in-home aides. They need to have backup plans in case their aides can’t get there,” she said. “It’s intertwined in our daily business and it doesn’t just happen in hurricanes. It can be ice storms or just somebody calling in sick.”

Planning like this can forestall some of the deadly developments seen in Florence among people older than 65: the six of 11 vehicle-related drowning victims, three out of the five people who died while cleaning up their properties, and a couple, 86, who died after lighting candles because they had no power all were 65 or older.

Already on Wednesday, the state marked the first death connected with Dorian when a Columbus County man, 85, fell from a ladder while getting his home ready for the storm. Gov. Roy Cooper announced the death during an afternoon press conference. He also cautioned North Carolinians about a perennial hazard: “We know all too well that floodwaters can be deadly.”

Just don’t do it

The vehicle drowning deaths fall in too-familiar territory for Steve Marshall, director of the Injury Prevention Research Center and an epidemiologist at UNC Chapel Hill.

“The primary advice always has to be, don’t drive on flooded roads,” Marshall said.

“With water that’s muddy and you don’t know what’s here, there could be a rock, could be anything. You’ve got no idea what you’re driving into or over. So, if not for your own protection, at least for the safety of others, don’t try it.”

People tend to underestimate greatly the power of water that’s running parallel to the direction of the road, Marshall said.

“A lot of people have pickup trucks or big SUVs,” he said. “But, you’ve got to realize that these vehicles are still designed for dry land, not developed with the idea of driving through rapidly moving water.”

Preparations such as those connected with the special needs registries can preempt the need for urgent missions into flooded roads.

“People in disaster situations are often trying to act with appropriate caution and take care, however, they also have a lot of other things going on,” Marshall said. “Sometimes they’ve got to get food, or go get supplies, or tend to a loved one, or go check on Grandma. People are stressed and wanting to go and verify that their loved ones and family and neighbors are safe.”

Sometimes making sure in advance that both older people and their caregivers have plenty of supplies and charged-up cell phones can keep both parties safely at home.

Effort to Ease Teen Driver’s License Rules Hits Red Light - North Carolina Health News

A bill that would allow teens to drive solo after dark to attend church functions is reconsidered in committee.

By Rose Hoban

It seemed like a good idea: Teens, who are restricted from driving after dark under North Carolina’s graduated driver’s license system would be able to drive to and from evening classes under a bill proposed by Charlotte Sen. Dan Bishop (R).

Then, during a meeting of a senate judiciary committee, Bishop entertained a so-called “friendly amendment” from Democrat Paul Lowe (Forsyth) that would allow teens to also drive solo to and from church functions after 9 p.m., when they’re currently restricted.

image shows a car with a sign on top reading — Student Drivers, Image courtesy of Artotem, Flickr Creative Commons

Lowe, who is a pastor outside his position at the General Assembly, said he wanted to write the amendment only to allow for attendance at a worship service.

But as the committee began to pull the language apart, it became clear that a seemingly simple idea could become complicated.

“The purpose of graduated licenses is to give young drivers the experience they need to be safe on the roads,” said Sen. Terry Van Duyn (D-Asheville).

“My question is that there are social events that are church or religious-sponsored and those are good things. I’m not questioning that, but does this allow inexperienced drivers, maybe with their friends in the car, to attend those social events.”

Acquired skill

Under North Carolina’s graduated drivers license system, a teen with a learner’s permit can only drive during daylight hours with a supervising driver for the first six months, then graduates to driving at any time with an older driver. Once the teen has earned a license, he or she can drive unsupervised during daylight hours for six months and can have only one other passenger under the age of 21 in the car.

Teens can only drive after dark to go to or from work or volunteer service.

The law was created in 1997, and was one of the first graduated license programs in the country. Steve Marshall from the Injury Prevention Research Center at UNC Chapel Hill said there’s an “enormous” body of scientific evidence that favors strong graduated driver’s license systems.

“You do a lot of things when you’re driving, that you’re almost not aware of,” he said. “You read brake lights way ahead, like four, five, six cars ahead, you look for oncoming traffic when you’re at an intersection. Youth drivers don’t do those things.”

Researchers at Marshall’s center and at the Highway Safety Research Center, also at UNC, have put cameras in cars to see how young people behave as they’re driving.

“People forget about [the camera] within a couple of days. They do all the regular things people do in a car, you know, like picking their noses,” he said.

More important, Marshall said the cameras show how long it takes teens to acquire driving skill.

“Stronger graduated driver’s license laws are always better,” he said. “It is more inconvenient for families sometimes, but there is a payoff.”

He said that the evidence shows the graduated license regimens reduce teen fatalities by as much as 50 percent.

Religious events

“There have been concerns raised that [allowing for attendance at religious events] opens up the law to weaken it to a degree that you might want to consider before you make this decision,” said Alan Dellapena from the state Division of Public Health during the meeting. “Restricting that driver to the defined hours and the number of passengers is really the intent of the law.”

Dellapena, who chairs the unintentional death committee of the Child Fatality Task Force, said many activities could fall under the category of religious events.

Freshman senator Danny Earle Britt (R-Lumberton) said he could see that trying to define what constitutes a “religious event” could start to run afoul of the Constitution.

“Some religious practices I don’t believe in, but according to the Constitution people may have a right to practice those religions,” he said. “The more we open this up the more we get away from the intent of having the provisional licenses in the first place.”

He also said that as a prosecutor and then as a criminal defense attorney, he’s seen how these cases quickly get thrown out if they make it to court.

“Unless it was after midnight, they just get dismissed,” he said. “With these exceptions, it opens it up and makes it difficult to prosecute.”

In the end, Bishop withdrew support for Lowe’s amendment, and signaled he might even forget about the bill altogether.

“This bill was because a constituent had a child who was in a high school class that extends to after dark,” he said. “It’s an unusual situation.”

Bishop recounted being the youngest of five children, all of whom had a car wreck in the first couple years of driving, “Some of us pretty significant.”

“I had one when I was about 17-and-a-half and I had kids in the car and I was driving to the beach,”he said.

“I think we ought to be absolutely comfortable that we’re not worsening the situation or undoing something that’s valuable.”

Additional Thanks

Categories