'Like being in a prison': Power outages persist at Tallahassee senior living facility

Electrical outages persist at a senior living facility almost two weeks after they began, residents say and a manager confirmed.

From inoperable elevators to broken lights, some tenants at Brookestone Senior Residences, an accessible housing facility, are struggling to get repairs — and answers.

One of two elevators has been fixed in the three-story building of 108 units since the outages began in the early hours of Saturday, May 23.

Many residents have disabilities. Kelly LeRoy, a 59-year-old who has had both legs amputated and is in a wheelchair, relies on the elevators. He lives on the third floor.

"I can’t get out of here, being stuck here is like being in a prison…" LeRoy said. "Five days, no food, no nothing, not even a call from these people."

When the hallway lights flicker and turn off, his fridge turns off, he said.

LeRoy has a fan running in his apartment because of an air conditioning unit that stops working for hours at a time, he said. His electric wheelchair charges in his bedroom, where the apartment's only working outlets are.

A few months ago, during a different outage, LeRoy said he tested how long it would take him to escape the building if needed.

“It took me 42 minutes to get down the stairs backwards, holding onto the rail and sliding down to try to escape,” said LeRoy, who had cataract surgery earlier this week.

LeRoy also worries about his neighbors, like a woman down the hall who relies on an oxygen machine powered by electricity.

As of Tuesday afternoon, a set of heavy, automatic doors used to enter and exit the building by those in wheelchairs like LeRoy was also still broken.

His daughter Mercedes LeRoy, 37, lives 30 minutes away on the north side of town. She’s been making the drive daily to bring her dad food and medications.

“This hasn’t been easy. It’s been really stressful on everybody. I feel for everybody who lives here,” she said. “I can’t carry him, and he has no legs.”

The LeRoys say their calls to the corporate office haven’t been returned.

Brookestone's manager, Kianni Brewer, said one wing of the building has been fixed, while bedroom and bathroom lights are broken in another part of the building. She said tenants have "the right to be frustrated" and called the situation "unfortunate."

But, "We're not going to have what an assisted living facility or even an independent living senior resort would have. The rates are different," she said, referring to features such as generators.

Brewer said after the power surged two weeks ago, 168 breakers in the building were left broken. She said that delays in installing new breakers are due to a manufacturing shortage from COVID-19.

In a letter posted to residents' doors last week, Brewer directed tenants to reach out to the city's Division of Risk Management to file claims.

City spokeswoman Alison Faris told the Democrat last week that a part of the facility's three-phase electric power delivery system broke.

Faris said 14 claims have been filed with the risk management office, including by the property owner. She said the office is awaiting documentation from tenants.

"When this information is received from the claimants, an estimate of potential loss can then be determined," Faris said. "City equipment was repaired the same day."

More:After power surges a week ago, some Tallahassee seniors still lack power in complex

Reach Nada Hassanein at nhassanein@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @nhassanein_.

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