PITTSBURGH — The Merakey facility in Fairywood is going on day four with no power.
It’s a home that takes full care of fifty residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“There are people on feeding tubes, and one person on ventilator support. So power is critical to keep things going,” Senior Executive Director of Merakey, Roni Erath, told Channel 11.
Since Tuesday night, they’ve been running on backup generators.
“These generators are designed to run temporarily, an hour or two... not 4 days,” she added.
The big worry — the generators will stop working, and they’ll have to move their patients with critical needs to another Merakey facility.
“It’s not just as easy as moving a mattress. They would need bedding that would work for them. They need to be elevated because they have feeding tubes, so it’s important that they’re upright,” she said.
That’s why Merakey leadership put in a 911 call today — to let emergency crews know that they may need help evacuating residents.
“I can only imagine the stress that they have knowing the situation they’re under, not knowing what tomorrow could bring,” Nathan Johnston told Channel 11.
Johnston lives up the street and has also been without power for the last several days. But — he wants the focus to be on Merakey.
“It’s the people like that who need help the most. We’re not in a great situation, but they’re worse. They’re priority,” he added.
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