'Catastrophic' impact of floods on the elderly means many are going into care earlier than expected

Key points:Many elderly people are still living in temporary accommodation or with familyShe described how her husband, Ian, clambered on top of a wheelie bin, lifted her onto his back and heaved her up to the roof.

The pair waited for two and half hours in the pouring rain before a passing boat stopped and took them to higher ground.In the four months since February 28, Pam has lost five kilograms, with her weight falling to just 41kg."It's not that I'm not eating or anything. It's just all the stress, I think, and just feeling that you're in limbo," Pam said. "It's just traumatic.

"It took a while to sort of talk to people about it without crying — and it takes a lot to make me cry," he said.Ann Birkbeck and Robert Morton say delays in paying out insurance claims have added to the stress.Like many in Lismore, he's spent hours of his time online and on the phone, dealing with claims and applying for state government grants.He's received some payouts but is waiting for assessments to be made about his level of coverage.

"If you haven't got a computer and [you're] not computer literate, you've got to find someone [who] is, [who] can help you fill it out," he said.Geriatrician Rachel Jones says many elderly people are still living in temporary accommodation. "They're not wanting to go out and do things as they usually would and, again, this can lead to prolonged depressed moods and, in many respects, can increase the risk of entering residential care much earlier than what would have been previously expected," she added.

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