ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Following the news of about a dozen senior citizens dying from the sweltering heat at a nursing home in Hollywood, Florida after Hurricane Irma, Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation on Monday where nursing homes and assisted-living facilities are required to have generators and enough fuel.
"We already have a generator," said Dr. Larry Lake said, the CEO of BayView Healthcare Assisted Living at the Pavilion, an assisted living facility in St. Augustine.
The generator worked during both Hurricanes Matthew and Irma.
"We evacuated during Matthew, but we did not evacuate during Irma," he said.
That's because the storm surge was not expected to be as bad during Irma as it was for Matthew. And because that was the case, Lake said Medicare said residents can opt to stay put. Most of them did for Irma.
"There's a lot of unsafety in evacuating," Lake said. "Some of these people are over 100 years old. Some are bed-bound."
So, having generators at nursing homes and assisted living facilities is vital.
In south Florida, there was no operating generator at one nursing home days after Hurricane Irma.Ultimately, about a dozen people died from the heat at The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.
"It was clear more needed to be done to protect our citizens," Scott said Monday at a press conference.
Soon after Irma, Scott issued an emergency mandate for nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have generators and enough fuel. Monday, he signed legislation making that permanent.
"I'm proud we're one of the first states to require our nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have back up generators," Scott said.
The new law also requires there be enough fuel to keep the generators running for 72 hours.
Lake said BayView's generator was critical.
"It kicked in. Worked perfectly. No problem. We had no problem maintaining ambient temperature until the electricity was restored," he said.