Hurricane Lowell knocked out power and phone service on Kauai, leaving many older residents cut off — bad news for seniors who depend on electricity for medical gear, but volunteer checks are filling some of the gap.

• Seniors who normally live fine on their own were stranded when the power died and their hearing aids, oxygen machines, and CPAP machines stopped working.
• With cell service down, many could not call for help, and some did not understand what was going on.
• Volunteers went door to door on Kauai, and each person they reached pointed them to other neighbors who needed help.
• Counties are running wellness checks with the National Guard, and home care workers are treated as essential staff who keep working through the storm.
• Neighbors are being asked to take elderly families into their own homes for the two or three worst days of a storm.

Outlook: Expect more door-to-door wellness checks as power and phone service come back, and more pressure on neighbors to plan ahead for the next storm.