Case Study
Plaza of Jensen Beach
Introduction
Located in Jensen Beach, Florida, The Plaza at Jensen Beach is an enormous, self-contained, senior living development. The Plaza caters to seniors accustomed to an affluent life style and offers a complete retirement village featuring every type of exclusive service and shop imaginable. In addition, The Plaza contains housing complexes for assisted living, elderly care, and nursing care, all under one roof within the same facility.
The hurricane season of 2004-2005 was particularly hard on the southeastern coast of Florida and Hurricane Jeanne showed no mercy on The Plaza at Jensen Beach in September 2004.
The Problem
Hurricane Jeanne caused significant water damage to The Plaza at Jensen Beach’s interior. The exterior windows were broken, portions of the tile and flat roofing surfaces had been severely battered, and much of the structure’s exterior siding had been ripped away.
The entire Jensen Beach area was without electrical power. To say the least, a complex which provides care for the elderly that has no electricity poses a serious problem.
What’s more, Category 4-level Hurricane Charley and its 150 mile per hour winds struck Florida’s southeastern coast just 3½ weeks before Hurricane Jeanne wreaked havoc over the same area. After Jeanne passed through Jensen Beach, the buildings housing the local police departments were absolutely uninhabitable. Naturally, the complete absence of police stations creates genuine concerns regarding the potential for lawlessness.
The Process
Within a few of hours of Hurricane Jeanne crossing over the area, personnel from ServiceMaster Catastrophe’s initial rapid response team had a 125 kilowatt diesel powered generator on site and had restored desperately needed electric power to the entire Plaza at Jensen Beach facility.
The surfaces of both the tile and flat roofs were replaced, as were the broken exterior windows.
The considerable water damage sustained within the interior required selective demolition and structural drying to be performed throughout the complex. All of the carpeting was removed and replaced. Drywall and insulation all through the interior walls were replaced; the walls were repaired, painted wallpapered and tenant finish was completed.
The Results
All of the extensive work performed at The Plaza of Jensen beach was completed by ServiceMaster Catastrophe without the need to evacuate a single tenant.
Due to ServiceMaster Catastrophe’s immediate, strategic response and continuous dedication to providing specialized recovery services, The Plaza at Jensen Beach was the only commercial building operable within the area.
As a result, Florida’s Martin County Sheriff’s Department set up a temporary precinct in the lobby of The Plaza at Jensen Beach. The Martin County Sheriff’s Department operated from this location for a few weeks and utilized the lobby as command center for dispatching emergency response and as a temporary headquarters to restore order to the community of Jensen Beach.
