Introduction
In 2013, following Hurricane Sandy, a three-resident ORANJ research team produced a 31-page report documenting the experience of 19 New Jersey CCRCs and providing recommendations for surviving weather emergencies. A factor given special attention in the 2013 report is the adequate supply of electric power which is essential to all CCRC operations.
In 2021, ORANJ research conducted Dr. James Gallagher, a resident of Cedar Crest, focused on the need for back-up power in Independent Living Units. Jim interviewed 24 Resident Association presidents by telephone. Jim’s summary and interpretation of the responses are provided here; the data from the survey are tabulated in this spreadsheet (pdf).
Lessons Learned, Lessons Forgot
Ten years ago, hurricane Sandy battered New Jersey. The storm alerted the continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) in the State to the need to prepare for the next “big one.” But currently no more than one in four communities provides a critical precaution, emergency power for the senior citizens who occupy their independent living residences.
While the communities promote the comfort, security, convenience and amenities of “homes for life,” only six of New Jersey’s 25 CCRCs have responded to the lessons that Sandy taught and installed on-site emergency power generators for their entire communities.
These facts come from a recent survey of the leaders of resident associations conducted by ORANJ, the statewide association of all CCRC communities that provide post-retirement facilities for some 10,000 seniors in independent and assisted living residences and in several levels of medical and nursing care.
Only the communities’ medical facilities are required to operate back-up emergency power for health care facilities; but some 7,400 residents occupy units for independent living. They are now affected by blackouts that lose power for lights, heat, elevators needed for evacuation, health-related equipment and refrigeration for medications and food. The survey reported largely insufficient efforts to provide for the safety, security and comfort of those residents when the next storm strikes.
The Lessons Sandy Taught
Hurricane Sandy inflicted memorable destruction to New Jersey and significant disruption of services to residents throughout the State. In the CCRCs, that storm caused interruptions of power from 18 hours to nine days.
Typically, the communities moved independent living residents to improvised temporary locations such as clubhouses, dining areas and open beds in nursing facilities. The longer outages required relocation that caused major disruptions in the lives of the aging residents.
An earlier ORANJ survey in 2012 found that only one community had installed emergency power for its independent living residences before the deadly hurricane struck. The report concluded that “there is an absolute need for adequate backup electrical generation facilities and food supplies,” and recommended disaster planning and preparation to include logistics, equipment and personnel training.
Updating the Survey
Recent warnings about the threats of climate change prompted ORANJ to conduct a new survey of New Jersey communities. The US Department of Energy reported that “power interruption events” have increased twelve-fold in the past 20 years. United Nations studies on climate change predict that conditions will only get worse. And the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) forecasts above-normal activity in the current hurricane season with as many as 20 storms battering coasts from Texas to Florida to New York, knocking out power for weeks on end. The impact of hurricanes is greater than usual storms, NOAA points out, because unsafe working conditions will delay restoration of power.
The new ORANJ survey found an alarming lack of readiness among three-fourths of the CCRCs in New Jersey. Only six of the 24 members responding are now equipped with emergency power generation equipment for independent living units. (A listing of the communities follows this summary.)
Interviews with presidents of resident associations at each of the locations indicated two factors that have caused the communities to largely forget Sandy’s impact and ignore the lessons learned:
Apathy among current residents is cited as the most significant reason why little progress has been made to prevent the recurrence of the disruptions and potentially life-threatening conditions experienced a decade ago. Only four communities reported significant interest by residents to install emergency power for independent living facilities. The others indicated zero to slight concerns being expressed.
It may be significant that most residents of today were not living in CCRC communities at the time Sandy struck. Statistics on CCRCs nation-wide report that a resident on average remains in independent living for nine of the 12 years after they move to the communities. The other three years are spent in assisted living or various types of nursing care at the communities.
In addition, most communities have not experienced lengthy power interruptions in recent years, reporting intervals of no more than 5 hours before local utilities restored power. A single outage of four to five days happened several years ago during hurricane season. Because of efforts by ORANJ, the NJ legislature passed a law in 2019 that requires public utilities to place CCRCs on priority for restoring power.
Managements are reluctant to increase costs for residents. The leaders of nearly all resident associations have discussed the issue with managers and many have conducted open meetings for residents on the subject. But with demand from all residents at such low levels, little progress is reported on feasibility studies and there was only one estimate of costs made available to residents. The prevailing “wisdom” is that “…it’s too expensive,” without specifying how much it might be.
The Bright Spots
One management company, Springpoint, that serves seven locations in New Jersey has equipped four communities with full emergency power, and is reported to have plans to do so in two more during 2022. The managers are reported to have a commitment to install full power equipment in the remaining community that it manages.
Two communities, one managed by United Methodist Communities and the other managed independently, now have working emergency power installed. Two others managed by Atlantic Health and by report plans for installation delayed by supply problems of the COVID pandemic.
The management of three New Jersey communities, Erickson Senior Living, did rent emergency power trucks for its largest community for three months the year after a recent storm knocked out power for four days. However, the costs were too high to repeat and have prompted a current study of other alternatives while the community remains unprotected.
The earlier ORANJ survey recommended against renting generators as a stopgap, but instead called for purchase and control of the equipment. That report cited unpredictably rising prices in competition for limited availability of equipment when a need occurs. In addition, there were problems with poorly maintained equipment that did not function as promised.
The recommendations also called for setting up a permanent emergency management team in every community. These teams will prepare and monitor emergency management plans that include not only power, but continuing training of staff and residents, communications protocols, as well as storing fuel, food and equipment for emergency use. Its scope would not be limited to power outages but other emergencies as well.
Those are the lessons that Sandy taught, and which, the new survey reveals, are largely unheeded among the new Jersey CCRC communities today. The warnings of global warming and its consequences, ORANJ asserts, must be addressed short-term. The needs of the increasing numbers of senior citizens as well as those of the younger generations demand attention and action.
This survey was conducted and the report prepared by James J. Gallagher, Ph.D., a retired New Jersey college president and social scientist who lives in a CCRC in Morris County. Questions may be directed to him at GallagherJ506AV@aol.com.