The archeological site of Altadena in Karen Bagnad, California is a house after burning a mountain fire in the Los Angeles area in January 2025.
Courtesy: Chelsea
On the night of January 7, Karen Bagnad was sitting in Altadena, California and sitting at his house.
The powerful breeze lost her house, and she had no running water, except for one bathroom.
“My daughter called me and said,” Mom, do you notice that you have a fire? ” “I didn’t think there was a fire.”
At that time, the Evacuation Zone of the Eaton Fire was far away to feel safe.
“Oh, they thought they would never go to my house,” said Bagnade.
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About 30 minutes later, her daughter Chelsea Bagnad made a call. As the fire spread rapidly, the Bagnad’s house was now near the evacuation zone border.
After the grandson of Bagnad, after Dalton Surgent, who lives at home at the age of 32, he returned from work and decided to leave at night.
She lived at home for over 50 years, but Bagnad had previously evacuated, but never had left.
“I thought,” I’ll evacuate this time, but I’m back, “she said.
It was the last time she stepped into her house.
The next day, Bagnad’s daughter and grandchildren returned to the neighborhood and checked their homes before the authorities blocked the area. What they found was a “smoldering mountain”, her daughter wrote on Facebook.
It was on January 22 that Bagnad could return to her neighborhood and see his devastation.
“They brought a chair for me, I was sitting on my private road, and I could see it just land,” Bagnad said about the surreal scene. “I started watching it in the point of” How to rebuild? ” “
The 79 -year -old Karen Bagnad is sitting at the archeological site of Atadena, California, after burning a mountain fire in the Los Angeles area in January 2025.
Ceremony: Chelsea Bagnad
Elderly people who are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters
The mountain fire in the Los Angeles area destroyed tens of thousands of acres and ruined the house and the whole neighborhood. According to JP Morgan’s estimation, the loss of the insured can rise to $ 50 billion.
In addition, unknown residents are homeless.
For the elderly, catastrophe comes in a vulnerable time in life. Moving and dealing with a physical difficulty can be more difficult.
According to Daniel Arigoni, the author of the city planning and community resilience, the author of the book, and the “climate resilience of the aging country”, will be over 18 years old by 2034. Masu.
However, she said that these population statistics were not used as lenses for climate recovery plan.
“In 20 years, there was no improvement in the fatal rate of the elderly in these kinds of disasters,” Arigoni said. “If you look at such a trend line, you just scream for another approach.”
LA-AREA’s mountain fire evacuated some support facilities and some burned out.
In the aftermath of the fire, public charitable organizations are focusing on providing supplies, including wheelchairs, and cooperating with nursing and support facilities to fill the gap between services and resources.
“You can imagine stress that all seniors have to evacuate,” Robertson said.
For the elderly who live on their own, the risk is that they cannot leave the house, and Caroline Ross, a co -execution director of the village Movement California, said. Specialized knowledge that supports the elderly properly aging.
“In natural disasters, they are likely to have been found at home because they were affected by imbalances and could not be evacuated,” Ross said.
The most intense blow of Pasadena Village, the village movement community, was driven by a fire, and 19 had completely lost a house, including Bagnad.
“It was sad,” said Katy Brandon, an executive director in Pasadena.
“But it was really beautiful to see the elderly really supporting each other, seeing each other for each other, and seeing the support community that they really worked for the past few months or many years.” Brandon said.
When Bagnard searched for a new house, one of Pasadena village members stepped up and provided a six -month temporary wreath to live with her at her house, but two women. I hadn’t met before.
According to BRANDON, Bagnard has been an important member of Pasadena Village for many years, and has been holding many events and programs in “Beautiful Houses outside Patio”.
As a reorganization of Bagnard, Pasadena Village has exchanged computers that have lost the accessibility function required for loss of eyesight. Community organizations support the provision of necessary equipment, such as air purifiers and computer printers in cooperation with other affected residents. If possible, it also encourages the elderly to keep gathering socially.
“Insurers seem to be very good at seeing what they can replace in response, but sometimes it’s a considerable process,” said Brandon. “This recovery period will be better as you can get the resources and equipment required for the elderly quickly.”
Elderly casualties face health improvement and economic risks
Experts emphasize that the elderly may face long -term recovery.
John Casey, an associate professor at the University of Washington University, said in the aftermath of disasters, many people tend to provide donations and other support and provide donations and other support.
However, during the reconstruction period, she often said that volunteer efforts and donations were depleted.
More than a year later, she said that the victims of the same disaster may still be kicked out of their homes.
“It is the mid -term disaster period that we still want to check in people,” said Casey.
Especially if you do not have a community safety net, you may be susceptible to specific health and financial risks.
Almost 80 % of the elderly have more than two chronic diseases, according to a study by the National Council on the aging of the population. If it contains a respiratory or heart disease, the deterioration of temperament may be more harmful to their health.
Elderly people may have repaid their homes. In other words, you may not need to take out insurance for housing owners. As a result, Arigoni said that some people may be completely unprecedented, but others may have insufficient insurance to reduce monthly costs. 。
According to Casey, the science and literature on how disasters affect the elderly are “quite mixed.” Some neurologists have discovered that natural disasters could be a turning point in cognitive function for the elderly.
However, Casey said that the elderly could have more resilience because they developed a better strategy to cope with stress over time. They may have already experienced a disaster before, so they may be ready to handle another event.
“I want to live long enough to see it will be rebuilt.”
The archeological site of Altadena in Karen Bagnad, California is a house after burning a mountain fire in the Los Angeles area in January 2025.
Courtesy: Yesterday, my mother saw her house for more than 50 years since she was burned
Before losing a house on Wildfire, Bagnard, a professional visual artist, has recently experienced a great deal of life when he has dealt with loss of vision.
In early 2024, she held her work show in Pasadena Village, where she agreed with blindness. Her favorite work -the fall of the spherical body is performed in the dark and light color scheme, a symbol of her own journey, in darkness and light.
“Knowing that you are blind is like a freedom to fall into the darkness, and at some point you notice that you are bringing light with you. It is not really dark, “said Bagnard. “You have another kind of light. The light is inside.”
The work has been destroyed, is now in the ashes of her house, along with most of her other artwork.
In most of her life, Bagnard draws a pen and a link with watercolor cleaning. Since the onset of loss of vision, she has shifted to another way to write a highx using deco -page and handmade papers.
She said that the process of dealing with her loss of vision was helpful to maintain her recent loss of her house, despite her still frustrated moment. I said.
To support the reconstruction, she applied for a small and medium -sized business management loan, and her daughter started a GOFUNDME account.
In addition to Pasadena Village, other community organizations also intervene to provide support.
Better Angels, a local non -profit organization, provided a subsidy to Bagnad and her grandchildren. Journey House, a foster parent service provider, has promised to support the young man of Bagnad’s grandson.
In the tile BLE in her house, Bagnard said he had seen signs of hope. The Denmark plate with mermaids that Bagnard considers the art muse has survived the fire and survived the stairs of cement she drew in the four seasons.
She told the two daughters and grandchildren that it was up to them to decide what to do with the property to ultimately inherit.
“I’m 80 years old next month. I want to live long enough to see it will be rebuilt,” said Bagnad.
