SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Residents in northwest Louisiana are bracing for brutally cold temperatures starting tomorrow night.
Often times these ice-cold conditions mean we have to make sure pets, pipes, and plants are well taken care of. But there’s also another “P” – People. Now is a great time to start checking in on our elderly relatives and neighbors.
A Highland resident who’s unsure if he will be alone on Friday says he is glad to be surrounded by concerned neighbors.
“I got one that’s next door, he checks on me from time to time … most of all of them,” Carl Franks said.
Monica Wright, the Executive Director of the Caddo Council on Aging, says elderly neighbors can develop some sort of a code system.
“With the windows, maybe… with the blinds, open or close, you know, give them a clue whether or not they’re OK,” says Wright. “Because if they [neighbors] don’t want to go out themselves at least, they’ll know by whether the blinds or open a close whether the seniors are ok.”
Robert Jump, the Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness Division Commander at Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, says to start checking on the elderly now. There is no need to wait until Friday.
“Especially come Thursday, Thursday between lunch and dinner time those are when we’ll drop below … you hit that freezing mark. So that first night coming into Friday morning, it might be good to give them a call again and check on them in the morning to see how they’re doing,” Jump said.
Franks, 64, says he’ll be just fine since he’s already starting to prepare for the freeze as early as Wednesday morning.
“Well, I’m checking all of my windows, pipes, cracks around the house.”
However, he still thinks about those who lost their lives due to dangerously cold temperatures.
“And the cold weather caught them … it’s kind of bad this time of year. I just hope everyone just takes care of themselves.”
