Independent living facilities struggle from derecho outages

Kelly Cooper, of Colfax, was worried her 79-year-old mother with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and emphysema would struggle to breathe in the heat and humidity after her independent living apartment in Newton lost power from the derecho.

Until recently, residents living in Newton apartments like Suncrest Village and Linden Place (formerly McCann Village) — which primarily lease to the elderly and people with disabilities — had no power for four to five days.

Oftentimes, Cooper checked on her mother, Beverly Williams, and other Suncrest residents at lunchtime and after work. Unsure when power would be restored, she took her mother home to be around cooler air. Still, she worried about the other residents. Some transferred to a hospital to receive oxygen.

“But there are some that trying to keep their insulin on ice,” Cooper said. “They’re still there. I don’t know if they just won’t leave or can’t get into the hospitals for that kind of reason. If it’s not considered an emergency, I’m not sure. And I’m not sure what the capacity is or what they can handle.”

Like many other Iowans affected by the derecho damages, Cooper has felt stressed and worried for the vulnerable populations trying to live without power. There are potential trip or fall hazards being in the dark in the apartments. Food replenishment could be difficult too for low income facilities with little resources.

“A lot of them budgeted at the beginning of the month when they get their social security checks and get their food for the whole month so they don’t have to go out,” Cooper said. “They’ve lost all that. A lot of them don’t have food down. They’re living on peanut butter and stuff like that. They don’t have much.”

Eva Harlan, supportive services coordinator of Suncrest Village, confirmed staff and residents have faced some challenges as a result of the power outages, such as keeping a steady supply of ice on hand and providing meals. Cooper commended the Suncrest staff for keeping families informed during this time.

Harlan said about 60 residents live in Suncrest, but she was unable to say how many people transferred to the hospital. Harlan did say a handful of tenants either left to live with a family member or a friend or stay at the hospital to accommodate their medical needs.

“Those that were there still we definitely kept an eye on and did everything we could,” Harlan said, noting the apartments did get electricity restored to about half of the property by Thursday, Aug 13. “… Anything we can do, we’re doing it. It was tough for a couple days though.”

Staff were also able to set up a charging station for residents, too. Several tenants opened their doors up to neighbors to enjoy the amenities that have now become a luxury for Iowans affected by the derecho. Harlan said a vacant unit with air conditioning and a fridge was eventually opened to all tenants.

Other facilities experienced similar challenges. Linden Place said it was working on backup generator to provide its community with a fridge, microwave and a cooling unit; staff also conducted regular welfare checks on residents. On Saturday, Aug. 15 Linden Place announced power was restored to the building.

“Thank you to all who have helped in the past week and continue to help every day,” Linden Place said on Facebook. “From the bottom of our hearts here at Linden Place, we thank everyone who helped, donated, called/dropped by to check up on everyone, supported us locally and supported us from far away.”

Because of the lack of electricity, phone use and internet access in the community (apart from some areas of town where smartphones could connect to a cellular service), the only way Linden Place could interact with people was through Facebook. The county health department regularly posted updates, too.

More important, the Jasper County Health Department kept track of the nursing facilities with restored power. As of Friday, Aug. 14, the county health department said there was one more nursing facility in the area still without power. Newton Health Care Center and Accura East, for instance, got power back Friday.

One person in the comments section of the health department’s post suggested nursing facilities should have been a priority. The Jasper County Health Department said, “We couldn’t agree more!” Alliant Energy said in a recent update that more than 50 percent of customers impacted had restored power.

By the end of the day Tuesday, Aug. 18, the company said electricity “will be available to a significant number of customers.” Alliant Energy workers “are working day and night to make it happen even sooner” while also adhering to COVID-19 precautions.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com