With temperatures falling to below freezing and sub-zero levels, safety officials ask residents to check on their neighbors and relatives to make sure they are okay.
That's the advice from Stephen Jeffrey, Northumberland County's director of public safety, after hearing about the death of Ellen Jackson, 66, of Shamokin due to hypothermia.
"In these cold conditions, it's always a good idea to contact a relative or keep an eye on your neighbors, making sure everything is okay," Jeffrey said.
Pat Rumberger, administrator of the Northumberland County Area Agency on Aging, encouraged family members and neighbors to be vigilant in alerting authorities to people susceptible to hypothermia.
"Be a part of your neighborhood," she said. "If you know there are seniors out there that you haven't seen and you're concerned about them, call us."
Help is available
Rumberger said the agency makes in-person visits to clients vulnerable to freezing temperatures. She said the agency provides assistance to many clients using space heaters, but has also gone to extremes like putting clients up in hotel rooms or providing heating fuel in emergency cases.
"The most important thing is we do assist," Rumberger said.
Jeffrey said that many elderly residents are too proud to ask for help and think they can survive under such conditions.
"Sometimes these cold weather snaps happen suddenly and they aren't prepared," he said. "Those are the people we worry about the most."
He recalled Sunday morning when 23 homes in the Fifth Ward section of Shamokin were without power at 7 a.m. when temperatures were in the single digits.
"When we heard that the power was going to be out for at least four hours, we started making calls to see where we could set up warming stations for residents in case it was needed," Jeffrey said. "We also heard that there was one person that was also on a breathing medication, so that was a double whammy that we were concerned about."
Through such programs as the weatherization department and the Lower Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), help is available for county residents to keep their homes warm or to help pay heating costs.
To alert the Northumberland County Area Agency on Aging of an adult facing a heating crisis, call 570-495-2395.