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A hard road. A short time to travel it.

In New Orleans, seniors are faced with loss and devastation, with less time to recover.

By CHRIS BYNUM
Published April 25, 2006

A black-and-white photograph of sunlight filtering through an iron cross at Metairie Cemetery lies inside, puckered by floodwaters.

Buffet remembers how the angle of the sunlight was something he had been patient to capture: "I had to go back four times to get the sun just right," he says.

That was back when there was time for patience, when most of Buffet's life was ahead of him.

Buffet paid $6,000 for a lot in 1952. Since then, he has become a grandfather, a widower and a retiree. "My future is behind me now," he says.

Like many of the elderly affected by Katrina, he is not battling just the storm aftermath and an uncertain future. He is racing against time.

He is painfully aware that though others can afford to wait - for FEMA, for insurance adjusters, for contractors, for garbage men, for the doctor, for neighbors to return, for a hometown to recover - the clock is no longer on his side.

That awareness adds another layer of stress to the post-Katrina lives of senior citizens, who face a unique set of emotional and medical challenges in their now-tarnished golden years.

"I have lost my house, my hobby, my friends and my car," Buffet says.

His car was his independence. And now that it is gone, Buffet says he has reached the end of his freedom to come and go as he pleases.

His daughter, Janis Shreve, lived with her husband in the other side of his duplex, in the suburb of Lakeview. They now share a residence in Ascension Parish, 45 miles from Buffet's friends.

This loss of community, which has been hard on Buffet, is even more devastating for elderly people struggling with dementia. "They have lost familiar surroundings, their routine, familiar faces and family coming to visit," says Dr. Michael Knight, a psychiatrist. Many are failing to thrive, he says.

More cognitively intact seniors "might be experiencing depression and even despair," says Dr. Rick Streiffer at Tulane University School of Medicine. "When people look around, they see that what was once familiar is now changed, or gone. Many say they are ready to die."

Others are more independent and are involved in fixing their homes or helping relatives. "The elderly are living with the same hassles as the rest of us: insurance, repairs, etc.," Streiffer says. How well they cope, he says, has much to do with their pre-Katrina personalities.

One of the harsh realities, Streiffer says, is that New Orleans may not be the best place for the elderly. "They can't stop talking about coming back. But I don't think this is a very safe place if you need urgent medical care," he says. "Home health agencies are low-staffed."

The solution, he says, is time. But time is not on the side of the elderly. So rather than focus on the city's recovery, the elderly should concentrate on healing their own psyches.

Acceptance is the first step to healing, the experts say. And that begins with making sure that those who need to visit their ruined homes are given that opportunity, says Howard Rodgers of the New Orleans Council on Aging. "There is a need for closure," he says.

The acceptance he describes does not end with facing the destruction of a home or the loss of friends. It is a realization that the person has survived a major event, is still in relatively good health, is perhaps still independent. All these factors focus on the positive.

"In many cases, faith can be pivotal and can improve internal stamina. The holding pattern is what is so difficult. That is why many look for emotional and spiritual support outside of themselves and through a church or their families," Knight says.

Buffet spent $20,000 building his house in Lakeview more than half a century ago. His property, of course, increased in value, despite Katrina. But there is no monetary value on the life he built there.

For him, the picture is in focus.

"Everything is different," he says.

[Last modified April 25, 2006, 07:20:42]