UPPER EAST SIDE — As Hurricane Irene drew closer to New York City in August and officials ordered evacuations across the city, 82-year-old Juliet Anderson grabbed her medications and money and headed to a nearby shelter.
"There were certain things I forgot. I didn't have a portable radio," said Anderson, who lives in Robbins Plaza, a 20-story public housing building for seniors at 341 E. 70th Street.
Overall, she felt well prepared but didn't think some of her neighbors fared as well. "Some are sick," she said. "A lot are disengaged."
Now, city officials are trying to overcome the obstacles to a successful evacuation.
The "Ready New York" interactive emergency preparedness plan, released Thursday, is aimed specifically at seniors and people with disabilities.
The book guides people through the process of making a plan by having them write down support network and out-of-state-contacts, developing a transportation plan if subways and buses aren't running and checking off a list of important items that should be in their "go bag," such as documents and medications and their dosages. It also reminds people to contact medical supply companies about backup power if they use electrical medical equipment or to know their provider's plan if they're on dialysis or undergoing chemotherapy.
The project has been years in the works, and designed to help first responders do their job by documenting required medication, location and contact info for relatives or caregivers.
Among the people who helped spearhead the project is retiree Frank Lowe, 84, who joined the Office of Emergency Management in 2008. He found the project through the Department for the Aging's ReServe program, which matches retirees with short term agency project that tap their expertise. He ended up spending two years developing the guide, which was unveiled at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House's senior center just downstairs from Robbins Plaza.
"So much is about knowing where people are. Communication is an important factor," Lowe said. "It's important to think, 'Who of my neighbors do I know? Who can I call on?"
Lowe said that his team was particularly concerned about homebound seniors and was doing outreach to them and to caseworkers.
City officials said that nearly 50,000 New Yorkers have ordered a copy of the new guide, which Lowe hopes will empower the city's seniors and disabled population. "It's important that these people take responsibility for themselves," he said.
"Having a 'go bag' is a simple thing that people can do," said Upper East Side City Councilwoman Jessica Lappin, who chairs the council's Aging Committee. "For seniors, we want them to think about their medications, include contact information for doctors. Seniors may not have families or friends nearby, so it's important, as neighbors, that we look in on them and take care of them."
Lappin noted that the neighborhood she represents has a "high concentration of seniors."
The Upper East Side has roughly 30,000 seniors, comprising some 14 percent of its population, according to census data. When counting residents aged 60 and up, that demographic is 20 percent of the area's population, according to the Department for the Aging.
Manhattan's elderly population is projected to increase to 295,000 by 2030, which will be 16 percent of the borough’s population, up from 12 percent in 2000, according to Department of City Planning Data.
Bill and Judith Tirkot, Hell's Kitchen residents who were at Lenox Hill's senior center on Thursday, said the guide convinced them to put medications in a go bag.
They did take their medications when they were evacutated, and went to their daughter's place in New Jersey, but they liked the idea of being more organized in advance.
"I think this is a good idea," Bill, 80, said of the guide. "This year we had an earthquake, a hurricane. Who knows what's next?"
