All things considered, Harvard’s elderly population came through the December ice storm remarkably well. Some went to the shelter at Bromfield; others huddled by their wood stoves and fireplaces and ate canned food from stockpiles they had assembled for just such an occasion. Every one of them has a story to tell, and a handful brought their stories to a forum at the Hildreth House sponsored by the Council on Aging this week.

If there was one overriding complaint, it was the feeling of being isolated, without a working telephone or any way to know what was happening in the outside world. Residents with schoolchildren and working cell phones or work phones received regular updates through the schools’ Connect-Ed system from Selectman Leo Blair, who urged them to check on their neighbors who might need help. Hillcrest Drive resident Jan Goodell reported that some of her much younger neighbors had knocked on her door and asked if she needed anything, a story repeated all over town. And if it wasn’t a neighbor, it was a police officer or Council on Aging Director Ginger Quarles and outreach coordinator Maria Holland, who called or came by to check on their welfare.

Informal communication is one thing, but the whole issue of communication is always a major problem in any emergency situation, Selectman and former fire chief Peter Warren told the group. “It always will be,” Warren declared. “No matter what you do, there are people you can’t reach.” Town officials are gathering information now on alternative ways of providing emergency information to all town residents—or at least everyone with a working phone. What will it cost? Warren was asked. “I don’t know, but we’ll find the money somewhere,” he promised.

The forum attendees had nothing but praise for Quarles’ efforts after the storm to make sure that all senior citizens who might need help knew about the shelter and could get there if they wanted to. And Emily Guyett, who lived with her husband at the shelter for almost a week, assured the group that the meals there, prepared by Chef Paul Correnty and his crew, were outstanding. In fact, the only complaint about the town’s response to the storm was directed at the Department of Public Works: one woman said she eventually gave up trying to shovel the heavy ice out of her driveway that had been thrown there by highway trucks “roaring by.” Unable to get her car out until just this week, she has been relying on Harvard Help to take her to medical appointments, she said, and on her son to take her shopping.

Ken Van Wormer, of Oak Hill Road, grew up without electricity and running water, he said, so his storm experience was not altogether new. Getting food was no problem: he was able to drive out of town the first day and went right to Friendly’s in Acton for a hamburger. He kept two fireplaces going to stay warm, he said, and his biggest worry was whether his pipes would freeze. But Van Wormer did wonder, he added, how people with serious medical conditions were making out. Quarles replied that her first priority was to see that anyone she knew of with a medical problem was cared for. And in some cases generators were provided for people with medical equipment that lacked power, or the affected seniors were moved to the shelter or to a nursing home. But one thing she wants now, Quarles said, is for the town to compile a complete list of people who might need help in an emergency, a list that would be part of a database at the Public Safety Building, which is never without power. She could not access her computer files at Hildreth House, she added, because there was no power there.

Getting enough water to drink, wash up, and flush toilets was another big problem for many seniors. Faced with the prospect of struggling over icy ground to lug heavy pails of water from an outside source, Arline Marteney of Tahanto Trail was grateful when a contractor who’d been working at her house stopped by with a water supply and neighbors with generators offered help. Other inventive seniors drained their hot water tanks, Quarles said. Another common problem for which there is no ready solution is the reluctance of pet owners to come to a shelter when they can’t bring their animal friends along.

In the event of a similar emergency, town officials will have a much better response plan, Town Administrator Tim Bragan said. After the initial confusion abated, the police and fire chiefs developed a good working relationship with the National Grid manager in charge of Harvard, Bragan added, and the town got the power company’s full attention. The power company couldn’t put up new wires until Verizon replaced damaged poles, he explained, and in many cases that couldn’t happen until felled wires were cleared from the roads.

When it came time for suggestions, COA member Sharon Briggs proposed a recorded emergency message that could be updated as new information became available, so anyone with phone service could stay informed. Bragan had another good idea: that the COA organize volunteers to help seniors bring brush from their yards to the roadside when the town has a brush-clearing operation in the spring. Asked when that might be, Bragan said probably April or May. Officials are working on a plan now, he said.