Hurricane Preparedness for the elderly

The 2023 Atlantic Hurricane season is underway and while Belize has not seen any storm activity coming onto the end of June, authorities are stressing the importance of preparation. The National Council on Aging acknowledges that hurricane preparation may be made more difficult with an older person within immediate or extended families and is calling on Belizeans to be proactive. Ix-Chel Poot Executive Director of the Council spoke to Love News today on some lessons learned due to Hurricane Lisa. 

Ix-Chel Poot, Executive Director, National Council on Aging: “Last year during Hurricane Lisa for the first time there was a shelter available for persons with disabilities under which older persons fall and so that was the Inspiration Center so some older persons ae actually evacuated to that center. And that’s important because when we talk about persons with disabilities we’re also talking about access to bathrooms and showers and sleeping accommodations for those who are not able to move as easily as the rest of the population and also, you know, Mr. Marshall Nunez who is with the Disabilities Desk is really championing looking at how we make all our shelters more inclusive and available for older persons. One of the key things that we do know that we have to go back to is family planning. Whether you have an older person who is within your family or you have an older person who is a part of your extended family. So perhaps you have elderly parents or aunts or cousins who don’t live exactly in your community but they are a part of your family network looking at how do we ensure that these older persons who are living on their own have access to the proper information to be prepared.”

We’ll hear more from Poot in a subsequent newscast