National Hurricane Survival Initiative

Saving Lives & Minimizing Damage -- Is your community prepared?

Stay Powered Up Despite the Storm

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stressed man sitting on couch alone in the dark

An essential part of living in Florida is preparing for hurricane season. The state leads the nation in tropical landfalls with more than 200 direct hurricane and tropical storm strikes since records began in the mid-19th century. While the state’s energy companies have invested billions of dollars to strengthen the energy grid to help speed restoration following one of those strikes, it’s inevitable that a major storm will cause power outages. Preparing for power outages is key to ensuring you and your family are ready for when, not if, the next hurricane to blow your way.

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Know Your Home

Losing power can make it difficult to enter or leave your home if you have an electronic door lock. Make sure you have another safe way into your home, or a key that doesn’t require power. Learn how to open your garage door manually (many will have a bypass or emergency cord).

Hire a Professional

Tree limbs and branches, as well as other windblown debris, are among the leading causes of outages during a storm. Many homeowners attempt to trim these themselves. However, both the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) – Florida’s largest energy provider – advise against this. FEMA suggests you should hire a licensed tree-clearing professional to trim any vegetation near lines, and FPL warns that even non-metal ladders and equipment can still conduct electricity. This is why it’s important to look up and identify any overhead power lines before prepping your home, and to stay at least 10 feet away from those lines, including any tools or scaffolds you’re using. Always make sure to clean up any stray branches or yard clippings before a hurricane or tropical storm warning is issued. Once the National Hurricane Center (NHC) issues a warning, trash pickup is suspended, and anything left out may become airborne during the storm and interfere with power restoration.

The Ultimate Backup

If all else fails, having a generator in place will ensure that you have power during an outage. In order for generators to work properly, however, they must be stored safely and correctly. In a recent survey by the National Hurricane Survival Initiative, only 73% of people recognized that none of the options listed –  including balconies, garages, and attics – were viable locations for generators. With over a quarter of those surveyed believing in wrong information, former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate warns that a mistake can be potentially fatal. FPL recommends following the manufacturer’s instructions before operating a generator, which should be done outside and away from windows. The company also urges Florida residents to never wire a portable generator directly into a breaker or fuse box, as the power you generate could flow back into power lines and cause severe injuries or death to utility crews working to restore power.

Learn more about FPL at fpl.com, and be further prepared with this comprehensive checklist.

Financing to help Florida’s SNFs meet power requirements

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Revered for its year-round warm temperatures and relaxing lifestyle, Florida is home to the largest population of aging and elderly Americans who retire to the Sunshine State. However, Florida is also known for its disruptive weather, especially during the summer months that often bring with them devastating hurricanes and record-breaking heat waves.
2017’s hurricane season was particularly destructive in Florida. Hurricane Irma cost the state billions and took more than 70 lives. Among the victims were 12 residents of a Hollywood, Florida nursing home, who died after the facility lost power in the days following Irma’s wrath.

In response to this tragic event, a new mandate from Gov. Rick Scott requires all senior living facilities to install power generators, and to have enough fuel supply to run the generators for 72 hours. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities have until July 1 to comply. Although thousands are already in compliance, many are without the financial resources required to make these expensive system upgrades.

There is a widely available, but lesser known, program that can help. Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing (C-PACE) is a program that provides business owners with funding for improvement projects such as the installation of impact-resistant windows and doors, roofing, HVAC and solar panels.

Through a voluntary assessment on their property tax bill, property owners pay for the improvement projects over time. C-PACE loans are tied to the property itself and not the property owner, offering a rare chance for property owners to overcome common barriers of the upfront costs.

Ygrene is one of the nation’s leading providers of C-PACE. Our program is currently available in more than 150 cities and counties in Florida; however, most property owners do not know that C-PACE is an option for them. In fact, a recent survey commissioned by the National Hurricane Survival Initiative revealed that less than 8% of Floridians are aware of the program.

It’s important that nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Florida know that they are eligible for the C-PACE program, as they all share the same goal of ensuring residents are kept safe and cared for during disasters. C-PACE providers like Ygrene can help nursing homes meet the governor’s new mandate for backup power supply, but beyond that, C-PACE is a practical option for affording other projects that will improve facility conditions for the seniors in their care.

With the official start to Florida’s hurricane season having begun on June 1, and the deadline for complying with the new state mandate just around the corner, facility upgrades for nursing homes should be a top priority.

As we all know, when the stifling heat and punishing storms hit Florida this summer, our seniors are among the most vulnerable. They’ve taken care of us, now it’s time to take care of them.

Kate Wesner is the Senior Director of Government Affairs at Ygrene, national leader in residential and commercial energy efficiency and resiliency project financing.