Community Corner
East Hampton Seniors Struggling Through Irene’s Aftermath
Senior Center Director Jo Ann Ewing went to a meeting of the Emergency Management Team before the storm so she knew what to expect and what she would have to do to reach elders.
It has been very difficult for East Hampton Senior Center Director Jo Ann Ewing and her part-time staff to operate since the storm because they don’t have a base from which to work, due to the renovation of the senior center.
“It’s hard on the seniors. They have to lug water and they aren’t strong enough. We are delivering meals on wheels to our usual list and they are doing OK," Ewing said. "One gentlemen said he lived through WWI and the flood of 38 so he knows how to survive this storm. One senior had a tree fall on his house. The tree was so old, it fell apart when it hit so it didn’t destroy the house. No one was injured.”
Some seniors left their homes to stay with family. Ewing and her part-time staff have been busy going door-to-door to reach seniors that didn’t answer their phones when called. The staff made over 250 telephone calls right after the storm. Now they are concentrating on getting food to the homebound and checking on those they can reach to ensure they have water and anything else they need.
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“We had to ask the East Hampton Police Department to check on a couple of people whose roads were too dangerous for us to use. Luckily in all cases they were fine,” Ewing said.
Ewing said this storm isn’t as hard on the elderly as the winter storms because the weather is good and neighbors are out and able to check on them. In the winter, the isolation was very disturbing to seniors.
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The Commission on Aging is working with the town to implement a reverse 911 system of contacting elders to see if they are OK. This system would be useful if someone has a phone that doesn’t require electricity.
Said Ewing: “The reverse 911 will be helpful, but in the beginning it will be labor intensive to go out and educate the seniors so they will sign up. Many seniors are very reluctant to give out their personal information.
“Ultimately we need a generator at the Community Center so the senior center and library could be open. This is where the community is used to going.”
Other seniors that Patch talked with didn’t understand why there wasn’t a generator at the Community Center.
