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Two years after Katrina, bus evacuations questioned

Contemporary Long-Term Care Weekly, May 24, 2007

When Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast region in August 2005, a lack of available transportation was blamed for a number of elderly person deaths and evacuation difficulties in the region. According to a recent meeting of state representatives at a national Nursing Home Hurricane Summit, the problem persists, reported Florida's Herald Tribune.

One potential solution to emerge during the conference, which was sponsored by the Florida Health Care Association, was for nursing homes to buy old buses retired from metropolitan transit authorities in New York, Chicago, and other major cities. The costs are cheap; typically, $2,000 or less per bus with $1,000 in annual maintenance, according to the Herald Tribune. But nursing home representatives told the conference it makes more sense for the government to buy the buses and make them available for emergencies. The industry criticized the government's choice in 2006 to sign contracts with private companies for use of 1,500 buses in case of emergency.

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