Generators and Storm Plans at Volusia and Flagler Assisted Living

What do Florida's rules require?

After residents died in a Broward County nursing home that lost air conditioning in 2017, Florida adopted emergency power rules for nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Each facility must have a plan, approved through its county emergency management agency, to maintain a safe indoor temperature for at least 96 hours after losing power, and larger facilities must keep fuel on site.

A fixed generator is the usual way to meet the rule, but some facilities rely on portable generators, connections for rented units, or relocation agreements. The rule sets the outcome; the facility chooses the method.

What does AHCA's data show locally?

Source: AHCA FloridaHealthFinder emergency power data on facility profiles, retrieved November 6, 2026.

Small residential homes are the most likely to report no fixed generator, which is common statewide. Among buildings licensed for 17 or more residents, these report none: Indigo Palms (Daytona Beach, 84 beds), The Addison of Port Orange (Port Orange, 80 beds), Brookdale Palm Coast (Palm Coast, 60 beds), Reflections Memory Care of Port Orange (Port Orange, 54 beds), Indigo Palms at the Manor (Daytona Beach, 50 beds), Americare Assisted Living, Inc (Deltona, 48 beds), Maravida Orange City Mgt LLC (Orange City, 45 beds), Harbor Oaks Golden Years (Port Orange, 40 beds), The Sarah House IV (Ormond Beach, 35 beds).

Why does this matter on this coast?

Volusia and Flagler sit squarely in the path of Atlantic storms, and recent hurricanes have left parts of both counties without power for days. Beachside buildings face evacuation orders first, while inland facilities in DeLand, Deltona and Orange City may shelter in place but still lose power.

Heat is the main danger. Older adults, especially those with heart disease, dementia or on certain medications, can become seriously ill in a hot building within hours.

What happens when a facility evacuates?

Evacuation orders for barrier-island and low-lying zones come first, and facilities in those zones must move residents to a receiving facility named in their emergency plan, often a sister building inland or a partner facility in another county. Residents travel with their medication administration records, a supply of medications and identification, and staff go with them. Families are supposed to be told where their relative has gone, but phone lines are busy during storms, so confirm in advance how the facility will reach you and where it plans to go.

Inland facilities usually shelter in place. For them the risk is a long outage after the storm passes, which is exactly what the 96-hour emergency power rule addresses. Ask whether the generator powers air conditioning for the whole building or only a cooling area, and how residents are moved into that area.

After the storm, visit or call as soon as it is safe. AHCA and county emergency managers track facilities on generator power, but a family member's eyes are still the fastest check on how a parent is doing.

Families of residents in small homes should ask the same questions with extra care. A six-bed home may have no generator at all and rely on relocating residents to a partner facility; that can be a sound plan, but only if the destination, the transport and the timing are spelled out in writing before the season starts.

What should families ask?

Ask what the generator powers (the whole building or only some areas), how many hours of fuel are kept on site, where residents go if the building evacuates and how they are transported, how medications and records travel with residents, and how families are contacted during a storm. Ask how the building fared in the last major storm.

Each facility page in our directory shows whether a fixed generator is reported. Our hurricane season guide covers seniors living at home.