SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) – Firefighters and city employees came to the aid of a Sunrise nursing home that was without power or air conditioning for days.
Among the many locations in South Florida without power after Hurricane Irma was the Sunrise Health and Rehabilitation Center.
During checks of nursing homes Thursday, Sunrise firefighters found that this center needed help and had been without power and left in the heat for days.
“There was an estimate of 160 patients in the facility, of which at least 90-plus percent were non-ambulatory,” said Sunrise Fire Chief John McNamara.
Because those patients could not be evacuated, and city officials saw how dangerous the situation was, they stepped in.
“The problem is, when they tell you, ‘Yes, we have a generator,’ they don’t tell you that they don’t have critical needs, they don’t have the air conditioning,” said Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan.
Officials installed a giant generator outside, ran the cables into the building and connected them to the circuit breaker, and that powered every single air conditioner there.
Eight people died in Hollywood on Tuesday when a nursing home lost power.
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This incident has Ryan calling for a change in regulations. “The message isn’t that Hollywood could have done it or anybody else could have done it,” Ryan said. “No city should have to.”
In this case, the rehab center realized how critical the situation was and allowed the city to take over.
“A hurricane to us is just a nightmare,” said Louis Perez with Sunrise Health and Rehabilitation Center.
A lot of people without power understand this sentiment, and it’s a reminder of how important power is to those in need.
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