An alleged New York City directive instructed at least five coastal nursing homes not to evacuate residents before Hurricane Sandy hit land late Monday and Tuesday, a published report says.
Several facilities lost power and the use of back-up generators when lobbies and basements flooded at the Rockaway Beach nursing homes. The high-water mark at the Rockaway Care Center was nearly four feet, according to an account in the Huffington Post.
The nursing homes are located in Queens on an 11-mile stretch of land that sticks into the Atlantic Ocean. The area has public housing, high rises and two-family homes. Residents from two of the affected nursing homes, Surfside Manor and Lawrence Nursing Care Facility, were evacuated to a Brooklyn High School on Tuesday night.
No nursing home injuries or fatalities were reported in New York City through Wednesday afternoon.
Elsewhere, in hard-hit New Jersey, the two Brother of Israel 14-story convalescent homes in Trenton went without elevator service and heat due to massive power outages. Blankets and meals were delivered to aid residents.
Also notably hard hit was Waterview Center Nursing home in Cedar Grove, NJ. Residents there were evacuated when its roof blew off Tuesday morning.
Other nursing homes hit by Sandy, such as Gracedale Nursing Home in Nazareth, PA, have been put on the priority list for power restoration.
