Fort Lauderdale high-rise seniors prepare for ‘disaster’: Without water, many have no air conditioning

Jul. 19--Fort Lauderdale's large senior population showed increasing concern on Thursday after learning their water supply would be cut off. The concern centered not only on the lack of drinking water, but also on their buildings' air conditioner reliance on water.

"It is a disaster, to be without water," said Pio Ieraci, president of the Galt Mile Community Association. "Many of our residents are elderly and when you are 30 stories up without water, it's a problem."

Ieraci's association oversees 30 high-rises in Fort Lauderdale with 7,000 units and 16,000 residents.

Many larger buildings throughout the area -- high-rise condos, apartments, commercial businesses and even mid-rise nursing home facilities -- with rooftop air conditioning units rely on water-cooling systems to keep the air on.

"A lack of hydration for our elderly residents is a serious health concern," Ieraci said. But another major concern is air conditioning.

"All our buildings have water-cooled central a/c systems and water runs through the units continuously," he said. "Because of the heat, water evaporates and gets replenished by city water. If there is no water to replenish it, it will shut off."

Dozens of nursing homes and senior centers received an alert in the morning that they would be affected by the dwindling water supply, and some scrambled to stock up on additional drinking water for their elderly residents.

Senior centers such as the Sylvia L. Poitier & Theodora S. Williams Senior Center began to lose water pressure as the afternoon arrived, and about 60 seniors discussed the situation. While the center had extra water for drinking and flushing toilets, a spokeswoman said the seniors expressed concern about returning to homes without running water or high-rise units without air conditioning.

"They know we will take care of it here, but they are worried about what they will do at home," said a worker at the center.

At Atria Willow Wood, an assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale, management began exploring scenarios should the water outage extend longer than expected.

"We have detailed emergency response plans in place for this type of occurrence and are working to make alternative arrangements should the outage be prolonged," said Executive Director Jim Wood.

For the time being, the senior community brought in extra staff and additional water supplies and said the air conditioning is working as normal. "The safety and well-being of our residents are our top priorities at all times, and our focus right now is to keep them comfortable until water is restored." Wood said.

Local hospitals also moved into disaster mode Thursday, breaking out their hurricane supplies.

At Kindred Hospital South Florida on Las Olas Boulevard, CEO Ted Welding said his 40 patients will use the stocked cases of water for drinking and tubs filled with storage water for their baths and toilets.

"We are prepared because we have to be prepared for a hurricane," he said. "We have got enough to last three or four days."

On Thursday morning, his leadership team ordered additional drinking water from the hospital's distributors.

Broward Health, which operates Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, put out a statement saying its health services continue uninterrupted.

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Other health providers were not as fortunate. DaVita, a kidney care provider and manager of dialysis centers, said the water outage forced them to shut six of its centers in Broward County, affecting 403 patients. DaVita said dialysis patients typically require life-sustaining treatment three times a week and missed appointments could endanger their health, which is why it opened its seven other Broward County locations to anyone in need, regardless of whether they are a DaVita patient.

"We will be working into the night as needed to assure that anyone who he needs dialysis treatment receives it," said Vicki Burrier, division vice president for DaVita in South Florida.

As water levels dwindled, DaVita said it contacted all its in-home dialysis patients in the water outage areas and cautioned them to use extra care at home, recommending using boiled water for bathing or hygiene.

Cindy Krischer Goodman can be reached at [email protected], 954-356-4661, Twitter and Instagram @cindykgoodman

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