Thousands of senior citizens still stranded without electricity in blazing hot FL!!!

[FM123]

[link:http://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article172983276.html|

[tonyt53]

1. May wife asked why the families of those residents weren't checking on them sooner.

I think she has a good point.

[malaise]

4. Many of these homes had no electricity, no internet and no cell service

It was a massive HURRICANE!

[FM123]

6. Exactly!

[tonyt53]

18. If it was a loved one of mine, I would have walked through the debris to check on them.

[FM123]

5. So many of those seniors retired down here, leaving their adult kids up north.

I can only hope that those family members, who live in the area actually checked on them.

[Binkie The Clown]

2. Welcome to the world of climate change.

When the temperatures go a little bit higher, and the electric grids start failing regularly, mass deaths will become a way of life. Bit by bit the human race has already begun the process of going extinct.

[NutmegYankee]

3. A simple strategy to deal with this is a small box AC unit and generator.

You can cool a small room to give yourself some relief. A portable generator will easily start a 5000 BTU window or 8000 BTU floor unit.

It's the central AC systems that is normally beyond the power capabilities of portable generators. It can be done with a very large unit and a 50 Amp connector, but the typical 30 Amp transfer switch won't cut it.

[FM123]

7. Yes, it can help for a few days. However FP&L still has not restored power since Saturday.

[NutmegYankee]

11. That's not a long outage. I was out over 175 hours from Irene in 2011.

And that was just a tropical storm. People in Sandy lost power for weeks in some cases, and the October Snow storm in 2011 knocked people out for 2 weeks in freezing cold conditions.

One technique is to ration the gas by running the generator only during the day. Or to run in cycles of a few hours at a time.

[FM123]

14. Every day is a day too long for those seniors citizens up at century village

Especially for those who are medically involved or can not care for themselves

[NutmegYankee]

15. Understand, but with widespread line damage, it will not be quick.

I'd be surprised if everyone was back on in just 2 weeks just given the scale of damage. Sensitive facilities should have diesel or natural gas generator backup.

[Binkie The Clown]

8. As a short-term band aid that works.

Long term, when the grid collapses and the gas stations are empty and abandoned, generators won't do much good.

[FloridaBlues]

9. Most of Florida in same boat elderly and everyone in between

There's thousands of nursing homes here a wake up call for better planning, hurricanes aren't going away anytime soon.
It is a hot mess, it is taking a long time for FEMA basic supplies to get everywhere
Unless you are in this 3rd largest state it's hard to imagine the heartache taking place
The last thing we need is trump coming here and telling us what a great job he's doing for us here.
It's neighbor helping neighbors that is doing a great job with the little we have.

[FM123]

12. You are so right!

It has literally been neighbors helping neighbors that have made a difference.

[NutmegYankee]

13. I find that neighbors are very friendly just after a freak weather event.

I spend more time chatting with neighbors when the power is out or we are shoveling out from 30 inches of snow than any other time.

In 2015 we got a 2 footer blizzard and of the three snow blowers in the immediate area, 2 failed to start (carburetor problems). Since I had the lone working snow blower, I did 6 driveways that day.

[FM123]

16. Yes, neighbors are much more neighborly when something like that has happened

[FM123]

10. I hope I am wrong, but I am really afraid that there is more tragedy to come.

The temps are in the mid 90's to 100+ in Miami/Ft Laud these days, and so many senior citizens with no restoration of power coming fast enough and in Broward county our main water line was damaged so those with water can't even drink from the tap because it might be contaminated.

[FM123]

17. OP here with update:

The city of Pembroke Pines has put together teams of folks to go do daily wellness checks on these elderly residents and are bringing them food and water too! Since the apartment complex is guard gated needing resident badges for entry, we regular folks in neighboring areas can't even get in to help out. Who knows when FP&L will restore power, so this is a good move by the city til then. Century Village is a huuuge senior citizen apartment complex, so most of us in S FL know someone or knows someone who knows someone that has retired there, so this Miami Herald article just broke our collective hearts. Fingers crossed, they will restore power soon!

[maxsolomon]

19. The South is built cheaply and resilience is ignored.

If buildings aren't habitable without AC, then those buildings shouldn't exist. People used to live there before AC was invented - there are ways to build in concert with the climate.