Without proper planning for the growing senior population, Utah could be facing a disaster on par with some of the world's greatest tragedies.

That was the message from Shauna O'Neal, director of Salt Lake County Aging Services, in urging the House Health and Human Services Committee to pass a bill to create the Utah Commission on Aging.

"If we don't prepare for this, we will feel just like Sri Lanka feels today after the tsunami swept over the top of it," she said.

The commission created by HB165, which the committee passed unanimously, would help state and local agencies prepare for the quickly growing senior population by planning needed services and helping adapt for the lowered tax revenues generated by retirees.