Shelter space limited

[Aquawind]

We have many elderly and disabled people down in the warm and moderate gulf coast states. Hopefully they have a place to go..Definately something we should be aware of the special needs of friends, family and neighbors(some aren't friendly..lol)..

Paul


Shelter space limited

Lee has waiting list for disabled in case of storm, but demands met, officials say

By MARY WOZNIAK
MWOZNIAK@NEWS-PRESS.COM
Published by news-press.com on June 6, 2005

Lee County only has enough hurricane-shelter spaces to serve less than half of 1 percent of its disabled population.

There are 585 spaces spread across six special-care centers in Lee County, which has nearly 157,000 disabled residents aged 5 and older, according to the U.S. Census.

Despite this yawning gap, Dr. Judith Hartner, director of the Lee County Health Department, said it's difficult to say whether the county truly has a shortage of special-care shelters.

"If you look at the numbers, we need more shelters and spaces," plus more staff to run the shelters, Hartner said. "However, if you look at the experience, we've always met the demand."

It's true that the county normally has a waiting list for its special-care centers, said John Wilson, county public safety director. "Right now, however, that list is pretty low because a lot of folks no longer need the service anymore or have made other arrangements."

Wilson would like to develop more special needs shelters, and the county commission is willing to fund them, but the main problem is staffing, he said.

Hartner, who has medical direction over the centers, has tried numerous ways to recruit additional medical personnel to run the facilities, but to no avail, Wilson said.

"At best, we can operate two, maybe three shelters, although we could open up as many as six facilities. We would have to rely on outside mutual aid to staff the remainder and timing is a key issue here."

Yet, Hartner said that in the decade she has been here, Lee County has never needed to open more than two of its special-care shelters in a storm, including Hurricane Charley.

The two main shelters, which can hold a total of 350 people, have never been filled to capacity, she said.

They are Sunshine Elementary School, 600 Sara Avenue, Lehigh Acres (200 spaces) and Fort Myers High Edison Center, 2645 Cortez Blvd., Fort Myers (150 spaces). Not all disabled residents need to go to a special-care shelter, said Cindy McBride, who coordinates preregistration for the shelters for the Lee County Public Safety Special Needs Program.

For example, people who are hearing impaired, or visually impaired and use a guide dog, may go to a general population shelter, she said. Those who manage their own daily medications and need no ambulatory assistance also can choose a general shelter.

Others opt to stay with relatives, or evacuate out of town.

The general description of a resident who should go to a special-care center is someone who who needs assistance with activities of daily living. Those pre-assigned to a special-care center must be accompanied by a caregiver.

The county also provides transportation for residents during a hurricane, McBride said.

Sanibel Island officials recently urged disabled residents to preregister for special-care centers when they updated their hurricane evacuation plan in May.

This will allow emergency personnel to focus on recovery activities, instead of being diverted to tasks such as taking oxygen to homebound special-needs residents, they said.

Becky Bodnar of Fort Myers Beach thinks that's bad advice.

"I know firsthand that their chances of getting a place in such a shelter are very slim," she wrote in an e-mail. "I preregistered my mother, who was oxygen-dependent, diabetic, and wheel-chair bound, for a special-needs shelter the year before the four hurricanes hit and was informed that she was on a waiting list, and that their best advice was to evacuate before a hurricane threatened."

Bodnar doesn't worry about availability anymore. Her mom passed away in April 2004. "What is important is that people with special needs have their own plan in place if a hurricane threatens," she wrote.

McBride said the county has had a waiting list for the last 11 years that she has coordinated the special-needs program.

Almead Folkes, 83, of Cape Coral said she has been on the waiting list for about four years.

She has asthma and needs oxygen to breathe.

Being on the list is fine with her. "Your name is there. At least you know somebody is thinking about you to help you get the necessary medical supplies or attention that you would need," she said.

"Because even though you're on the waiting list, you can still call them for assistance. They have such friendly personnel there trying to assist you."

This year, McBride said the number of residents preregistered for the special-needs program dropped to 285 and the number on the waiting list dropped to 219, for a total of 504.

That means for the first time, there are enough spaces in the county's six shelters to assure a place for everyone.

But if a hurricane strikes and the county can only open the usual two shelters, with a capacity of 350 spaces, 154 special needs residents on the list still won't have a place to go.

Signing up for the program is still a good idea, because that lets Hartner know who has what needs throughout the county and if necessary, "she can make other arrangements," McBride said.

Last year, the county called everyone in the program, whether they were on the waiting list or not, to see if they needed assistance, McBride said. The county even offered to evacuate those on the waiting list to Orlando, she said.

"If everyone makes a plan and uses us as a backup, maybe we can help everyone."

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 60388/1075