When a Hurricane Hits, Having Dementia Adds an Extra Challenge — And Even More Risk

As Hurricane Florence barreled toward her coastal community, Patty Younts grappled with a question: Where should a person with dementia go?

Her husband, Howard, 66, suffers from a type of dementia called posterior cortical atrophy, which has robbed him of short-term memory and made him almost blind. Their home on Pawley Island in South Carolina, where they have lived for more than 30 years, lay in a mandatory evacuation zone.