Before Hurricane Season Peaks: 12 Questions to Ask a Naples Assisted Living Community About Its Emergency Plan
Before Hurricane Season Peaks: 12 Questions to Ask a Naples Assisted Living Community About Its Emergency Plan
September 10 is the statistical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, and here in Southwest Florida we don’t need a reminder of what that means. Families who lived through Ian in September 2022 remember which communities had cold air, hot meals and a working phone line within 24 hours — and which ones didn’t.
In thirty years of touring senior living communities in Naples, Fort Myers and Bonita Springs, I’ve learned that a community’s emergency plan tells you more about how it’s run than any brochure ever will. A well-run community has thought this through in detail and can answer these questions on the spot. A community that fumbles them is telling you something.
Here are the twelve questions I ask on every tour.
First, know the legal floor
Florida law sets a minimum, and it’s worth understanding before you walk in the door. Under Florida Administrative Code Rule 59A-36.025, every licensed assisted living facility must be able to keep ambient air temperature at or below 81°F for at least 96 hours after losing power. The rule requires the facility to plan at least 20 net square feet per resident in the cooled area, and to keep fuel on site — 48 hours’ worth for facilities with 16 or fewer beds, 72 hours’ for larger ones, rising to 96 hours once an emergency has been declared for the area.
That is the floor, not the ceiling. Meeting the minimum means a community can cool part of the building for four days. It does not mean your mother’s apartment will have air conditioning, her oxygen concentrator will have power, or the elevator will run.
So the real question is never “do you have a generator?” It’s “what exactly does your generator run, and for how long?”
The twelve questions
1. What does the generator actually power — and what doesn’t it power? Ask for specifics: resident rooms or common areas only? Elevators? Kitchen equipment? Well and lift-station pumps? Wi-Fi and the phone system? Medication refrigeration? Get a room-by-room answer, not a yes.
2. How many hours of fuel do you keep on site, and who is your resupply contract with? Every community in the county is calling the same fuel vendors after a storm. Ask where they sit on that vendor’s priority list, and whether that’s in writing.
3. What evacuation zone are you in, and what triggers an evacuation? Collier and Lee County evacuation zones are public information — confirm the community’s answer against the county map yourself. Then ask which specific order (Zone A, B, storm category, county directive) forces them to move residents.
4. If you evacuate, where do we go, and how do residents get there? There should be a named receiving facility with a signed agreement, and a transportation plan that accounts for wheelchairs, walkers and residents who can’t sit upright for a long ride.
5. How do you handle memory care residents during an evacuation? This is the hardest part of any storm plan. Moving a resident with dementia out of a familiar environment causes real harm. Ask what the memory care neighborhood does differently, and what staffing ratio they hold during an event.
6. What is your staffing plan, and do staff shelter on site with their families? The single best predictor of how a community performs in a storm is whether caregivers stay. Communities that let staff bring spouses, kids and pets keep their teams. Communities that don’t lose them to their own emergencies.
7. How many days of food and water do you stock, and how do you cook without power? Ask to see the emergency menu. Ask whether the kitchen has gas or a generator circuit.
8. What’s your pharmacy plan if the roads close? Which pharmacy, what backup supply, and how they handle controlled substances and refrigerated medications.
9. How will you communicate with me? Cell towers fail. Ask for the specific channels — text tree, Facebook page, landline, a designated out-of-area number — and ask what the plan is when all of them are down.
10. Show me what happened here during Hurricane Ian. This is the question that separates the answers from the marketing. Anyone operating in Southwest Florida in 2022 has a story. How long were they without power? Did they evacuate? What did they change afterward? Vague answers or “that was before my time” from the entire leadership team is worth noting.
11. Who is on site making decisions during the storm? Executive director, nurse, maintenance lead — by name and title. Ask whether the corporate office or the local team makes the evacuation call.
12. May I have a copy of your Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan? Every licensed community files one with the county. A community proud of its plan will hand it to you. Hesitation is data.
What to do with the answers
Write them down. When you’re comparing three or four communities — which is what most families in Naples end up doing — these answers blur together fast, and they matter far more than the difference in dining room décor.
Also do one thing that costs nothing: drive by. A community that keeps its landscaping trimmed, its roof maintained and its parking lot clear is a community that will have staged supplies before the storm.
Where I come in
I’ve toured nearly 100 communities across Naples, Fort Myers and Bonita Springs, and I’ve watched how many of them handled real storms. That history isn’t in any online directory. When a family calls me, part of what they get is my read on which communities perform when the power goes out — and which ones I’d want my own parents in.
There’s no cost to families for my services. If you’re evaluating assisted living or memory care this season, let’s talk before hurricane season ends — not after the next storm makes the decision for you.
Bruce Rosenblatt is the owner of Senior Housing Solutions and has advised Southwest Florida families on senior living for more than 30 years. See the areas we serve.
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We can help you ask the right questions, understand emergency preparedness plans, and identify communities that best fit your loved one's needs.
Bruce Rosenblatt, CDP
Senior Housing Solutions – Assisted Living Advisors
📞 239-595-0207
📧 [email protected]
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