On Sunday, Mr. Hailey was allowed to enter her apartment when she did not answer the door. He found her lying on the ground and tried to resuscitate her, but it was too late. That night, the neighbors played band music in the courtyard and danced for Mrs. Bergerol, remembering her vivid blue eyes and her frequent, wide smile.
By then, city health officials had already begun to realize the danger posed to senior residents. A day before Mrs. Bergerol’s death, they evacuated eight apartments for senior residents, including several where people had died. Now, city officials are considering forcing, during natural disasters, subsidized apartments that serve elderly or disabled residents to have generators, conduct welfare checks, or have a property manager at all times, a spokesman said.
The proposed measures are gaining strength in part due to deaths such as that of Mr. Joseph, the man trapped on the 312st floor.
Joseph was well known in the Garden Village, a relatively affordable resort in East New Orleans for people 55 and older. It is owned by the Louisiana Housing Corporation, a state agency, and managed by Latter & Blum, a large real estate company that manages properties in several states. The housing agency said Latter & Blum had encouraged tenants to evacuate and, after the storm, brought cooling buses to the property and supplies to tenants who chose to stay.
Mr. Joseph had retired years ago from a job selling car parts. He frequently chatted with neighbors and his routine was to have coffee and donuts around town. He was known for his faith, his love for his family, and, for some, his business response, “Yes, in fact,” which led his grandchildren to call him grandfather Yes, in fact. Many more people knew him for his humor, so he became friends with Mr. Righteous, 45, who was attracted to Mr. Joseph when he was joking at an event organized by Franklin Avenue Baptist Church.