A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
When the wildfires struck Los Angeles, people had to leave their homes so quickly that many of them left behind medical necessities, things like prescriptions and inhalers, things that can be really hard to replace. NPR's Alejandra Borunda went to a pop-up event where evacuees could get the medical help they needed.
ALEJANDRA BORUNDA, BYLINE: Dora Aumann had lived in her Altadena home for 53 years before the Eaton fire came raging through.
DORA AUMANN: My husband decided at 9:30 that it was time to go, and so I had five minutes to get everything together.
BORUNDA: They took almost nothing.
AUMANN: The things that we were wearing essentially is all we took.
BORUNDA: And the next morning, she realized something.
AUMANN: And I left my glasses, my latest glasses, at the house.
BORUNDA: Dora's daughter, Christina, couldn't get her an appointment for new glasses until late February. So when they heard that there'd be a team at this health event that could do eye exams and grind lenses for glasses on demand, they got straight in the car and drove over.
And here they are. Aren't they beautiful?
AUMANN: Yes.
BORUNDA: Doesn't she look great?
AUMANN: (Laughter).
BORUNDA: It's not just glasses.
KARLA RUGAMAS: We understand that a lot of patients can't get into their primary care doctor.
BORUNDA: That's Karla Rugamas. She's a nurse with the nonprofit Vida Mobile Clinic.
RUGAMAS: They lost their medication. So this is a place, a safe space, where they can come in, get their refills.
BORUNDA: And it's not just medications. They pulled together a clothes donation and veterinary care to help animals who had evacuated.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)
BORUNDA: Like Mitzi, the 14-year-old Yorkie, and Leia, the heavy-breathing French bulldog.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOG PANTING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Thank you.
BORUNDA: There were also mental health professionals at the event. They just wanted people to know that they're available to help in English, Spanish and other languages for free whenever people feel ready.
RUGAMAS: We know that patients are going to need help, not just today, next week, next month, but the years to come.
BORUNDA: Kennedy Caskey works for the health care support organization Americares. It supported the event. Caskey deploys all over the country after natural disasters, which she knows are getting more intense because of climate change. Scientists determined the LA fires were more likely and more intense because of it.
KENNEDY CASKEY: Climate change is just an ever-evolving thing and getting worse and worse, and so this past year, I mean, I've only had a six-week break or eight-week break since Helene.
BORUNDA: But it only takes one disaster to upend people's lives, like for Dora.
AUMANN: According to my husband, it's time to downsize. And nature took care of that.
BORUNDA: But at least now she has glasses to help her see where she's going next.
Alejandra Borunda, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF STEEZY PRIME AND MARSQUAKE'S "BLURRED VISIONS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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