Register special needs for area emergencies

Register special needs for area emergencies
By MARY HOGAN, Staff Writer

Are you a diabetic? Are you on dialysis or oxygen? Do you have heart problems that require daily doses of medicine? Are you confined to a wheelchair? These are questions that the county wants answers to, so it can better prepare for the needs of its residents in case of an emergency situation, such as a hurricane.

To collect this information, the county is asking any resident with special needs to submit their information to a special needs registry by calling 2-1-1 and pressing 1 for English or 2 for Spanish.

Other residents who need to register include those who:

# Cannot drive and cannot arrange transportation.

# Do not have a vehicle and have no one else to help them evacuate.

# Have a disability or special healthcare need and require assistance to get out.

“It’s so the disasters that occurred during Hurricane Katrina are not repeated,” Bilski said.

And while county officials cannot guarantee when help will come - or what Mother Nature has in store - the special needs registry will help provide one more necessary tool for assessing a situation.

“By working together, we have a much better chance of no one being abandoned in a crisis situation,” she said.

Bilski gave the example of a tornado hitting part of the county. It knocks out power and tears up homes and buildings.

“If someone was stranded in their home, as soon as the roads were safe and the wind died down, we could go check on them and see if they needed to be moved to a shelter,” she said.

The registry also can serve as an information hotline during emergencies, with those who have special needs able to call in and talk to live operators.

“When something scary is going on, instead of getting a recording, which causes a lot of frustration, you can talk to a live person,” Bilski said.

And, dialing 211 can also be used in the aftermath of a disaster, helping residents get the answers they need, with the option of using several different languages.

The county urges residents to sign up with the 211 system.

“It’s another tool to protect (residents),” Bilski said. “It’s another tool to give them information about how to help them get their services that they need and helps them get information about road conditions, weather conditions, available shelters or any other services they might need in the event of an emergency.”

For more information about 211 or registering information, call Bilski’s office at the courthouse at (979) 865-5911.

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