On Saturday, July 28, Kendal on Hudson suffered its second electrical blackout this summer.
Once again, one of the generators at Phelps Hospital, which provides power for Kendal, concked out and most of the campus went into emergency mode. Luckily the blackout came at 12:30 pm so daylight helped the residents manage.
Of course, Kendal has its own generator which provides electricity for both the Nursing Unit and the Memory Support Unit. All operations there were normal. Hall and staircase lights throughout the campus also operate from the in-house generator.
Kendal's wonderful staff acted perfectly, as they almost always do. The kitchen staff, since they were unable to cook, provided tasty sandwiches for dinner so everybody got fed.
All the independent living residents went to bed in the darkness as Con Edison struggled to get power back on. At 12:40 am many who had gone to sleep were rudely (but happily) awakened as the electricity returned and their lights and televison sets, which were on when the power failed, came roaring back. Perhaps most important, the A/C returned.
By Sunday morning all was back to normal; however, a considerable number of residents were left with less than total affection for Con Edison.
Everyone hopes we won't have a threepeat!