New deaths sound alarms after Irma

HOLLYWOOD, Florida - Hurricane-scarred Florida warily eyed the fate of its most vulnerable residents and emergency workers were urged to immediately check on those in nursing homes after eight people died in a scorching facility that lost its air conditioning in the storm.

Even in the face of a storm that affected almost the entire state and had officials still assessing its destruction, the news on Wednesday from the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills stood out, with victims as old as 99 among the dead and worries the count could grow.

"Unfathomable," Governor Rick Scott said. "Inexcusable," Senator Bill Nelson added.

Elsewhere in South Florida, other alarms were sounded for older residents. In Coral Gables, an apartment building was evacuated after authorities said its lack of power made it unsafe for elderly tenants. And at the huge, 15,000-resident Century Village retirement community in Pembroke Pines, where there were also widespread outages, rescue workers went door to door in the 34 C heat checking on residents and bringing ice, water and meals.

Though the number of people with electricity had drastically improved from earlier in the week, about 6.8 million people across the peninsula continued to wait for power, and utility officials warned it could take a week or more for all areas to be back up and running.

Three elderly residents were found dead on Wednesday inside the nursing home which had been operating with little or no air conditioning, officials said.

Four more patients died at or en route to a nearby hospital and a fifth was later identified as having died the night before.

"It's a sad event," Hollywood police chief Tomas Sanchez told a news conference. "We believe at this time they (the deaths) may be related to the loss of power in the storm."

City officials described the interior as "excessively hot", despite portable air coolers and fans that, according to state records, had been placed throughout the facility.

The eight who died ranged in age from 71 to 99. The cause of their deaths has yet to be determined.

But most of the survivors were treated for "respiratory distress, dehydration and heat-related issues", a doctor said.

AP - Reuters - AFP

(China Daily 09/15/2017 page12)