natural disasters

Fire in the Wind, Heroes in the City

Posted on 05/8/2013 by | Latino Life | Comments

Relationships | Volunteering | Your LifeIt is raining this morning, May 6, over greater Los Angeles. It began tapping at our rooftop shortly after midnight and was still coming down as night blossomed into a gray and gloomy day. I felt like cheering. The rain, with its accompanying low temperatures and high humidity, meant that a fire that had burned through almost 30,000 acres of brush and timber in the mountains 40 miles west of the city had been beaten. We had come through another …

Sandy Prompts Some to Seek Assisted Living

Posted on 01/7/2013 by | General News | Comments

Bulletin TodayBy Frank Eltman of The Associated Press MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. (AP) — For the first time in her life, Marion Johnston says she feels old. The petite 80-year-old retired school secretary who uses a walker is still adjusting as one of the newest residents at the Bristal Assisted Living retirement community. She moved in November after the howling winds and rising flood waters of Superstorm Sandy destroyed her Long Island waterfront condominium. Johnston had often thought about moving, but Sandy revealed …

Volunteers Washed Away in Severe Weather

Posted on 10/29/2012 by | Giving & Volunteering | Comments

Home & Family | Volunteering | Your LifeHere in Washington, D.C. most people have stocked their cabinets with water, batteries and non-perishable foods and settled into their cozy homes to weather the severe rain and wind that Hurricane Sandy is unleashing. But what about those who don’t have a roof over their head? The reality is that their situation becomes very fragile during these times because many of the services the homeless rely on operate only with the generous help of volunteers. And with the severe weather …

The Takeaway: Nursing Homes Ill-Prepared For Natural Disasters

Posted on 04/16/2012 by | Brooklyn, NY | Comments

News RoundupsEmergency Plans Lack Specifics: Will your loved-one’s nursing home be ready should emergency arise? Don’t count on it: A recent government investigation found many nursing homes—even those in disaster-prone areas—are ill-prepared for natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes and floods. Seven years ago, Hurricane Katrina showed us how vulnerable nursing home patients can be during natural disasters (according to the Houston Chronicle, at least 139 nursing home residents died during the floods or their aftermath). Yet according to the Health and …

Wake of the Flood

Posted on 05/19/2011 by | AARP Blog Author | Comments

VolunteeringIt has been hard the past week to avoid images of flooding in Mississippi and Louisiana, as the Mississippi River, gorged on rainfall from points north, threatened to leap the levees and consume New Orleans in 25 feet (!) of water. Officials, seeking a lesser evil, opted to open the Morganza Spillway and flood thousands of acres of cropland and – yes – residential areas. Which brings us to today’s point: You never know when a natural disaster might upend …