After Hurricane Beryl, Texas lawmakers push for generators at senior living facilities

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/03/texas-seniors-assisted-living-nursing-homes-generators/

created by texastribune on 03/02/2025 at 15:44 UTC

84 upvotes, 5 top-level comments (showing 5)

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Comment by firestorm_v1 at 03/02/2025 at 18:24 UTC

9 upvotes, 0 direct replies

It surprises me that assisted living facilities aren't treated like hospitals with respect to power redundancies. But then again, it does not surprise me in the least that assisted living facilities prioritize profit over people's lives.

Comment by TexasAggie98 at 03/02/2025 at 16:03 UTC

27 upvotes, 0 direct replies

My MIL is in an assisted living facility.

It doesn’t have any back up power generators and has three stories.

After Hurricane Beryl, it was without power and the elderly residents were trapped in their rooms which were sweltering.

The facility eventually got a generator and a portable A/C unit for one of the cafeterias so that residents could cool off. But it was on the first floor.

There were wheel chair-bound resist that had to be carried up and down the stairs to get to the cooling room.

I was shocked at the lack of preparedness of the facility eventually; especially considering the monthly cost.

Comment by texastribune at 03/02/2025 at 15:46 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

When a storm hits the Texas coast during the summer hurricane season, state Sen. Borris Miles knows among the first calls he’ll get is from a constituent letting him know power is down at an independent living complex, shutting off air conditioning for older Texans.

Miles, a Houston Democrat, is thankful for residents like these. But as the number of storms have increased, so has the frustration for southeast Texas lawmakers who want better solutions. That’s why Miles and four other coastal lawmakers have filed at least six bills that would require nursing homes, assisted living facilities and even some apartments that market to the 55 and older set, to have emergency generators on site.

In Texas, there are 1,193 nursing homes serving more than 86,000 patients and 2,004 assisted living facilities housing 49,574 residents.

Miles’ House Bill 732 would require certain low-income housing for seniors living independently to have backup power. In recent years, Miles has seen more of these facilities being built in Houston. Often living in multistory apartment buildings, residents of this type of housing do not receive care, so little information, including on their health conditions, are collected. But after a storm knocks out power, the vulnerable conditions of these residents surface, as some in wheelchairs and walkers become trapped in elevators that are inoperable, Miles said.

SB 481 from state Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston would require emergency plans at nursing homes and assisted living facilities to include generators. Nursing homes, which as the name suggests, offer more intense medical support to patients compared to assisted living facilities, which are senior apartments that provide meals and some assistance to its residents. HB 1199 by Rep. Christian Manuel, D-Beaumont, calls for emergency generators that have the capacity to run for a minimum of 72 hours in such facilities.

Rep. Suleman Lalani, D-Sugar Land, has filed HB 1467 that would require nursing homes, assisted living and independent housing for seniors to have generators. Another one of his bills, HB 863, would create a shared database of where senior independent living communities are and include each complex’s emergency plan, which is required by the state for assisted living and nursing homes. The database would be accessible to emergency response officials.