暴風雨期間，老年居民面臨著疏散的挑戰(zhàn)

暴風雨期間，老年居民面臨著疏散的挑戰(zhàn)

The firefighters came on Monday. They went up and down the halls, knocking on every apartment in the six-story Ansonborough House building in downtown Charleston, S.C., and leaving notices on the doors of those who didn't answer: This area is under mandatory evacuation.

消防隊員星期一來了。他們在大廳里上上下下，敲遍了南卡羅來納州查爾斯頓市中心安森伯勒六層住宅樓里的每一套公寓，并在沒有得到回應(yīng)的門上貼告示:這個地區(qū)正在強制疏散。

The manager of the building heeded the warning and left a note on the window in the lobby explaining that the building would not be staffed all week.

大樓的經(jīng)理注意到了這一警告，并在大廳的窗戶上留下了一張紙條，解釋說大樓一周都不會有人。

And yet, on Wednesday morning, small groups of residents stood in the parking lot and on the sidewalk out front, enjoying the light rain and fresh air. "I think everybody is still here except a handful," says Clara Hale, a pastor in her 70s who lives on the second floor.

然而，周三早上，一小群居民站在停車場和外面的人行道上，享受著小雨和新鮮空氣。住在二樓的70多歲的牧師克拉拉·黑爾說:“我想除了少數(shù)人，所有人都還在這里。”

As coastal communities from Florida to Virginia order or consider evacuation for residents, but many of the places most prone to Atlantic hurricanes are also popular retirement locations for a ballooning number of seniors.

從佛羅里達到維吉尼亞的沿海社區(qū)都在命令或考慮疏散居民，而許多最容易受到大西洋颶風襲擊的地方，也是越來越多老年人喜歡的退休地點。

"Evacuating for older adults is definitely a more challenging situation," says Sue Anne Bell, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing who studies how older Americans are affected by disasters.

密歇根大學護理學院助理教授蘇•安妮•貝爾表示:“疏散老年人無疑是一個更具挑戰(zhàn)性的情況。她研究美國的老年人是如何被自然災(zāi)害影響的。

Bell also worked with seniors during Hurricane Irma in Florida and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and she says one barrier to evacuation is that people who are living on a fixed income might not have the financial flexibility to pay for transportation or a hotel room.

在佛羅里達的颶風“厄瑪”和波多黎各的颶風“瑪麗亞”期間，貝爾還與老年人合作。她說，疏散的一個障礙是，靠固定收入生活的人可能沒有經(jīng)濟上的靈活性來支付交通或酒店房間的費用。

Slow-moving, wet storms such as Dorian can be especially frustrating because they linger for many days, increasing both the emotional and financial cost of evacuating.

像多里安這樣緩慢移動、潮濕的風暴可能特別令人沮喪，因為它們會持續(xù)許多天，增加疏散的情感和財務(wù)成本。

"We often think of disasters as immediate emergencies," Bell says. "But really what I see more of is people with chronic medical conditions that need routine care that they're not able to get." That includes people who need dialysis or chemotherapy or who rely on medication to treat cardiovascular disease.

貝爾說:“我們經(jīng)常認為災(zāi)難是即時的緊急情況。“但實際上，我看到更多患有慢性疾病需要常規(guī)治療的人，他們無法面對這一問題。”這包括需要透析或化療或依賴藥物治療心血管疾病的人。

On Wednesday morning, Hale's neighbor woke her up at the crack of dawn asking for a lift to the dialysis clinic she goes to three times a week. Hale is still working as a pastor and she has a car, so many people rely on her for rides.

周三早上，黑爾的鄰居在凌晨把她叫醒，要求搭個便車去她每周去三次的透析診所。黑爾仍然是一名牧師，她有一輛車，所以很多人都要靠她來坐車。

"I'm the Uber for this place," she laughs. It's potentially life-saving work. The cab that Hale's neighbor had called to pick her up never arrived, and the dispatcher wasn't answering the phone. Most businesses in town closed after the evacuation order went out.

“我是這個地方的優(yōu)步，”她笑著說。這可能是挽救生命的工作。黑爾的鄰居叫來接她的出租車一直沒有來，調(diào)度員也不接電話。疏散令下達后，城里的大多數(shù)商店都關(guān)門了。

"I don't know what she would have done if I didn't take her [to her dialysis appointment]," Hale says. "Probably just not go. Which is bad, you know?"

“我不知道如果我不帶她去做透析，她會怎么做，”黑爾說。“可能就是不去。你知道哪件是壞事嗎?”

A new poll of more than 2,200 people between the ages of 50 and 80 nationwide found that about 9% of respondents use medical devices that require electricity, such as oxygen concentrators. However, only 25% of those people had a backup power source for their device.

一項對全國范圍內(nèi)年齡在50至80歲之間的2200多人進行的新調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，約9%的受訪者使用需要電力醫(yī)療設(shè)備，比如氧氣集中器。然而，只有25%的人有備用電源。

The poll also found one big bright spot when it comes to seniors and disaster preparedness: The majority of respondents had a seven-day supply of water, food and medication.

調(diào)查還發(fā)現(xiàn)，在老年人和防災(zāi)準備方面有一個很大的亮點:大多數(shù)受訪者有七天的水、食物和藥物供應(yīng)。

Still, there's clearly room for improvement when it comes to planning ahead for major disasters. Fewer than half of those polled said they had spoken to loved ones about a plan for evacuating or otherwise dealing with a storm, fire or other disaster. For more information, visit the federal government's disaster preparedness site dedicated to seniors.

盡管如此，在為重大災(zāi)害提前做計劃時，顯然還有改進的空間。不到一半的受訪者表示，他們曾與親人談?wù)撨^撤離計劃，或應(yīng)對風暴、火災(zāi)或其他災(zāi)難的其他方式。要了解更多信息，請訪問聯(lián)邦政府專門面向老年人的防災(zāi)網(wǎng)站。