In 2001, older adults and disabled residents were left behind for days near Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks. In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma struck the southern United States, with a particularly devastating effect on older adults in long-term care facilities. Katrina took the lives of at least 78 nursing home residents in New Orleans, and 23 long-term care residents were killed in a bus accident in Texas during evacuations caused by Hurricane Rita. In response, the following year the Hartford Foundation funded a three-year, $361,556 grant entitled “Hurricane and Disaster Preparedness for Long-Term Care Facilities,” administered by the Florida Health Care Association (FHCA).
A year after the grant’s completion, we are pleased to report that the initiative has improved the capacity of nursing homes to care for their residents in the event of a disaster. For example, nursing homes in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas are now classified as 
health care providers, giving them priority for utility restoration. In addition, FHCA spearheaded creation of the Emergency Management Guide for Nursing Homes, which includes extensive emergency response tools and guidelines for long-term care providers. Detailed information about the initiative is available in our paper, “Helping Nursing Homes Prepare for Disasters,” published in the October 2010 issue of Health Affairs.
While we recognize that nursing homes and other long-term care facilities need to continue to improve their disaster response planning, we are pleased that the Hurricane and Disaster Preparedness for Long-Term Care Facilities initiative has had a significant impact on many states’ and federal agencies' readiness to help older and disabled residents in emergencies.