Irma Death Toll Rises As 5 Dead At South Florida Nursing Home
The death
toll left behind by Hurricane Irma continued to rise Wednesday, as five people
died at a South Florida nursing home that apparently was without air
conditioning, according to local officials.
Three people
died at the facility in Hollywood, Fla., and two others were pronounced dead
after being taken to a hospital, Barbara Sharief, the Broward County
mayor, said at a news briefing Wednesday morning. The facility was being
evacuated, but it was unclear when the order to clear the site was put in
effect.
Sharief said
it was not immediately clear what caused the deaths at the nursing home, which
is believed to have lost air conditioning after the storm. Authorities said
other people at the facility were being evacuated to other locations.
Millions of
people across Florida have lost power since Irma began lashing the state,
and utilities have warned that some of the outages could extend for days or
even weeks. This has cut air conditioning to scores of Floridians, and it poses
an acute danger for the particularly young or old in a state known for its
sweltering temperatures.
The five
people who died Wednesday in South Florida were part of a mounting death toll
that also included two people in Georgia killed when trees fell on them and a
man in Winter Park, Fla., near Orlando, apparently electrocuted by a downed
power line in a roadway.
But as the
power outages have lingered and residents have turned to generators,
authorities have also warned of the danger these devices cause, noting that
misusing them can easily sicken or kill people inside homes.
The Daytona
Beach Fire Department said Wednesday morning that one person was dead and three
others taken to a hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator
inside a home there, and the department pleaded with people to keep their
generators outside.
All across
Florida and the American southeast, people have grappled with the aftermath of
Irma, which slammed into the Sunshine State over the weekend and tore apart
trees and buildings with slashing winds and pounding rain
More than 6
million people were evacuated from their homes in Florida, and they have slowly
begun to return, even as roadways remain littered with debris, homes lack
electricity and traffic signals have gone dark.
Miami-Dade
Mayor Carlos Gimenez said about half of the county’s traffic signals were out.
Sharief, the Broward County mayor, has said the number was closer to 45 percent
of traffic signals there.
Across the
state, the explanations for the outages were visible alongside the road.
“It’s a lot
of trees and power lines and snapped poles,” said Kate Albers, a spokeswoman
for Collier County, which stretches across southwestern Florida and includes
Marco Island, where Irma made her second landfall.
“I can tell
you from driving around you see lines down all over the place,” Albers said.
“You see trees thrown through power lines and you’ll see an occasional pole.”
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