Fort Myers Senior AdvisorWhat does Florida require of assisted living facilities when the power fails?
Rule 59A-36.025 requires every Florida ALF to have an emergency environmental control plan and an alternate power source able to keep the building's indoor temperature at or below 81 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 96 hours after an outage, with enough fuel stored on site or a plan to get it.
Nursing homes have a parallel rule, 59A-4.1265. Both followed the 2017 deaths at a Broward County nursing home after Hurricane Irma. The plan is reviewed by the county emergency management agency and filed with AHCA.
How many Lee County ALFs report a fixed generator?
59 of Lee County's 84 licensed ALFs report a fixed generator in their AHCA emergency power data, 38 of the 43 with 17 or more beds; each of our facility pages shows what the profile reports.
The 81-degree standard can also be met with a portable generator or a cooled area large enough for the residents, so "no fixed generator" is not by itself a violation. Ask what the plan covers: the whole building, or one common room?
Do Lee County care facilities have to evacuate for hurricanes?
Facilities in mandatory evacuation zones must follow the county's evacuation orders and their own comprehensive emergency management plan, which names where residents go, how they are transported and how medications and records travel with them.
Hurricane Ian in September 2022 flooded much of Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Pine Island and parts of Fort Myers and Cape Coral, and several facilities moved residents before and after landfall. Ask a facility where it sent residents in 2022 and how families were told.
What should families ask a Fort Myers facility about storm readiness?
Ask which evacuation zone the building is in, where residents go and how they get there, what the generator powers and for how long, how much fuel and water are kept on site, and how the facility will reach you during and after a storm.
Also ask whether the facility has an agreement with a sister property inland, such as in Lehigh Acres or outside the county. Get the answers in writing and keep them with your parent's papers.
What about seniors who live at home in Lee County during a hurricane?
Older adults at home who need help to evacuate, or who depend on electricity for oxygen or other equipment, should register with the Florida special needs registry through Lee County Emergency Management well before June 1, so they can be placed in a special needs shelter or helped to evacuate.
Registration is free and is renewed each year. A special needs shelter is a last resort with basic medical support, not a hospital. See our hurricane season guide for a family checklist.
The short version
| Florida's emergency power rules require | Florida's emergency power rules do not require | |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 81°F or lower for 96 hours after an outage | Air conditioning in every resident room |
| Equipment | An alternate power source and fuel plan | A permanently installed generator in every case |
| Planning | A plan reviewed by county emergency management | That a facility stay open during a mandatory evacuation |
Built from Chapters 400, 408, 429 and 651 of the Florida Statutes, Fla. Admin. Code chapters 59A-4, 59A-36 and 65A-2, and AHCA, DCF, OIR, Elder Affairs, CMS, VA and CareScout publications cited on the page; see our editorial standards.
