Tragic news out of Florida is reaching us just now. Five people have died in a nursing home.
Police report that they have evacuated as many as 120 people from that said nursing home which was left without power (and thus also without air-conditioning) for many days on end as Hurricane Irma raged all over the state.
The Mayor of Broward Country, Ms. Barbara Sharief declared that so far five people have been found dead in the nursing home (located at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills at 1200 N. 35th Avenue, Hollywood). Three were found dead upon arrival, two died whilst being transported to the nearest hospital.
It is our understanding that many more of the 120 residents that were evacuated are in critical condition and we, therefore, have to sadly assume that the death toll might rise in the next few hours and days.
The victims' identities were unknown.
Police officers are checking all of the other 42 assisted living facilities in the Hollywood area as a precautionary follow-up to the news.
Furthermore, A phone number has been set up for family members to check on their loved ones: 954-265-1074.
As of this moment, more than ten million people in the states of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas are still without electricity.
The five people who died in South Florida are part of a death toll that, whilst it is still relatively low in comparison to other storms, keeps climbing.
Two people were killed in Georgia due to a tree falling and a man was electrocuted by a downed power line in Winter Park near Orlando.
It was however not clear that in each of the cases Irma was directly responsible for the deaths. So far, the total number of deceased attributed to Irma stands at 19 fatalities in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Source:
