Critical Care Customer Looks for Power Solution

Many East Meadow residents are still without power, but for one in particular, it is becoming a matter of life or death.

Zelda Kalish, 82, lives in a split-level house on Richmond Road in East Meadow, and she, like many others in the area, lost power when . Kalish lives by herself, and she cannot maneuver around her home without electricity.

"LIPA was told before the lights went out and after the lights went out that there is a medical emergency in that house," Kalish's grandson Brian said. "She’s confined to a wheelchair and relies on a motorized chairlift to go up and down levels in her house."

LIPA Spokesperson Venessa Baird Streeter says that critical care customers were contacted multiple days before the storm's arrival.

"We proactively reached out to all of our critical care customers to inform them of the impending hurricane that could possibly hit Long Island and encouraged them to make alternative arrangements for housing in case they experience an outage at their home," Baird Streeter said.

Without electric, Kalish is unable to get to her kitchen, bathroom and other areas of the house. Brian said that the motorized lift can run on batteries, but those were due to run out of power as of Wednesday night.

"If there’s a fire in the house, she simply can not get out on her own," Brian said. "It's become a life or death situation."

Kalish also uses a life alert pendant. If she were to fall and be unresponsive, medical units would be sent to her home. The pendant can run on batteries as well, but Brian said that those batteries only last three days. If something were to happen to his grandmother, "nobody would be able to help her."

Brian's parents live around the block from Kalish, but they are without power as well. He said that family members continue to call LIPA to plead for help with his grandmother's predicament.

"They keep telling us that they know it’s going to be fixed, but they do not know when," he said.

Baird Streeter says that LIPA has been working around the clock to restore power to Long Island, although there are still some critical care customers without electric.

"We have been trying as much as we possibly can, but based on the damage at certain locations, we have not been able to restore power to all of our critical care customers," she said.

According to Brian, Assemblyman Thomas McKevitt, R-East Meadow, and Legis. Norma Gonsalves, R-East Meadow, each reached out to LIPA on Kalish's behalf.

"I just want her to be safe," Brian said. "That's the ultimate goal."

Editor's Note: If you're a critical care patient with a medical emergency, please your office of emergency management or 911.