The costs include overtime paid to hourly staff that stayed. Staff that evacuated took paid time off. Some of the costs were in lost revenue, but the system expects to recoup some of that revenue in rescheduled surgeries. About 1,200 nursing home residents were evacuated from Chatham County Sept. 14. Nursing homes incurred transportation costs and overtime for staff who evacuated with the residents.
Costs vary with the number of residents and mode of transportation.
Many homes evacuated residents on school buses. The area's electricity provider brought in 1,300 additional workers from its sister companies with the Southern Co. and other utilities. That's on top of all the overtime hours regular workers rolled up at Savannah Electric. Spokesman John Kraft said Savannah Electric has an emergency fund that is expected to cover all costs, preventing any kind of impact on rates. Kraft said he has yet to receive costs estimates and would not speculate.