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Officials Make Plans to Evacuate Most Vulnerable Citizens
By David Phelps, The Natchez Democrat
October 8, 2005
In the event of an evacuation, one of the most vulnerable groups in the county is the elderly, particularly those living on their own.
While the hospitals and nursing homes, by law, must have plans to evacuate their facilities, those seniors on their own need to be thought about in advance of any emergency, officials say.
"You have a lot of elderly and disabled who try to hang in there through the storms, with no lights and no water, they can't survive like that," Alderman Ricky Gray said.
Gray said it is vital to identify the endangered and wants to sit down with Civil Defense Director George Souderes soon to get plans worked out.
Souderes is in the process of coordinating efforts within the county to deal with the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, storms which have made Natchez a prime evacuation point.
Souderes said preparing the county to be on the other end of the equation is no small feat.
While the county doesn't have a formal, written evacuation plan at this time, Souderes would handle an evacuation situation in a way similar to the hurricanes.
"If something would come up tomorrow, the Emergency Management Office, the first priority would be to get all of the key players and give them a job responsibility."
Moving the elderly and disabled - those who could not get themselves out would be a top priority, Souderes said, but "we need to identify what's out there."
Identifying who would need help is a hurdle that might be easier to clear than people think.
Janet McNeely, director of RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program), has 100 volunteers who helped make deliveries to people during the past hurricanes. She said compiling a list is just a matter of getting everyone who helps seniors together.
Sheriff Ronny Brown, whose department would play a major role in any future evacuation, agrees with McNeely.
His department operates the RSVP program with the TRIAD (The Right Information And Direction) agency.
Under the program, seniors get an automated call from the sheriff's department every morning. If they don't answer after the second call, a deputy goes to the person's home. This program gives Brown a list of some 60 seniors.
"We know some of them, but we don't know all of them."
TRIAD is a national agency combining the efforts of local sheriffs and police departments with senior citizen centers.
McNeely said the relationship in times of normalcy helps keep anyone from being forgotten in times of crisis.
Between groups like RSVP and TRIAD, along with other outreach groups, most of those who would need help are known about, McNeely said. Now, they need to get all the names on one list.
"The different organizations need to pool our information at a central meeting, then, when it (an evacuation) happens, we go do it."
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