As extreme weather events become the norm, a dangerous gap in preparation is leaving some of the most vulnerable citizens—older adults living in independent and assisted living facilities—at severe risk. The devastating consequences of relying on an unreliable power grid were brought into sharp focus following Hurricane Beryl in July, which knocked out power for over 2 million people in Texas, including residents like Tina Kitzmiller.
Kitzmiller, 61, a retired postal worker, recently moved into an independent senior living facility in Houston, seeking safety after riding out a previous disaster in her RV. Yet, she found herself trapped in a sweltering apartment, worrying about her 12-year-old dog, Kai, and her elderly neighbors.
«I checked for food. I checked for jobs,» Kitzmiller said of her retirement planning. «I didn’t know I needed to ask about the generator.»
The Unchanging Reality of Long-Term Care Safety
Kitzmiller’s experience, where temperatures reached at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit indoors, highlights a grim reality: despite several major weather catastrophes—most notably the 2021 Texas winter storm that killed hundreds—little has changed regarding emergency power requirements for long-term care facilities.
According to David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, while there has been «some movement,» it has been «very slow.»
Power loss poses a unique and severe threat to older adults. Their bodies are less able to regulate temperature due to age, medication, or pre-existing conditions. Furthermore, many life-sustaining medications require refrigeration, which is impossible without electricity.
Federal regulations mandate that nursing homes maintain a safe indoor temperature, but they fail to regulate how that is accomplished. Crucially, they do not require generators or other backup energy sources for heating and ventilation systems. While nursing homes fall under some federal oversight, assisted living and independent living facilities are largely regulated at the state level, resulting in widely varied preparedness standards.
Texas Lags Behind on Generator Requirements
Some states learned their lesson after past disasters and implemented mandatory generator laws:
- Maryland adopted generator requirements for assisted living facilities after Hurricane Isabel in 2003.
- Florida implemented similar laws for nursing homes and assisted living facilities in 2018, following fatalities during Hurricane Irma.
Texas, however, has no such generator requirement.
This regulatory void extends to nearly 2,000 assisted living residences and all unregulated private residences, including independent senior living apartments like Kitzmiller’s. These independent living facilities are the fastest-growing sector of the senior care market, often housing residents with complex medical needs who desire more autonomy than a nursing home provides. But as Grabowski notes, «If you suffer from heatstroke in your apartment, that is not safe.»
In Kitzmiller’s Houston building, the lack of power meant that residents on the second and third floors—many of whom could not descend the stairs—were trapped in the heat, unable to reach the cooler first floor or refrigerate vital medications.
Political Failure and Corporate Greed
For years, efforts to mandate backup power in Texas have been blocked. Republican Representative Ed Thompson has repeatedly attempted to pass legislation requiring energy-efficient generators in assisted living facilities since 2020, but the bills failed. Thompson, who is not seeking re-election, minced no words, stating, «It’s terrible what the state of Texas is doing,» and blaming corporate greed and politicians more interested in national posturing than improving the lives of Texans.
Nim Kidd, head of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, stated that the ultimate responsibility for resident safety lies with the facilities themselves. «The facility is responsible for the health, safety, and well-being of its patients and residents,» he told reporters.
However, advocates argue that without state-mandated protections, vulnerable seniors will continue to suffer. Gregory Shelley, senior director of the Harris County Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, acknowledges that installing generators is expensive, and some in the industry continue to operate under the assumption that extreme weather events are rare. Shelley strongly rebuts this belief: «All of us in Houston this year have learned that they happen all too often.»
Following the catastrophic 2021 blackout, a U.S. Senate investigation recommended a national requirement for shelters to have emergency power supplies. A 2023 report from Texas’ long-term care ombudsman, Patty Ducayet, made similar recommendations for requiring generators and annual emergency plan reviews for assisted living facilities. None of these proposals were accepted.
A Plea for Accountability
More than a week after Hurricane Beryl struck, Tina Kitzmiller was still without power, focused on the staff who tried their best, but utterly frustrated with the systemic failures.
«It’s their mothers, their grandmothers, and their families in these homes, these facilities,» Kitzmiller pleaded, demanding accountability from corporations and politicians. «All I can think is ‘Shame on you.'»
The crisis facing senior residents during power outages is a stark indictment of the priorities within the long-term care sector and state legislatures. As climate change increases the frequency and severity of weather events, the failure to mandate basic emergency power is a choice that directly risks the lives of the most vulnerable citizens.
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