Reporting from HOLLYWOOD, FLA. — Hurricane Irma has moved on, but its aftermath continued to ravage Florida on Wednesday, as authorities said eight patients died in a sweltering nursing home that the storm had left with limited power.
The victims were five women and three men who ranged in age from 71 to 99, according to local authorities.
The deaths at the facility in Hollywood, just north of Miami, drew outrage across a state with a large population of seniors — and where hundreds of thousands remain without electricity as a result of the hurricane that swept across the state beginning Sunday.
Many Florida residents lacking electricity in their homes have moved in with friends or relatives or sought hotels with air conditioning as temperatures soared above 90 degrees.
Meanwhile, a number of other post-hurricane deaths were reported from a variety of factors, including toxic fumes from generators and at least one fatal chain-saw accident as residents sought to clear storm-blow brush from their properties.
Authorities said a criminal investigation had begun after more than 100 patients were evacuated from the Hollywood nursing home and a neighboring facility, many on stretchers and in wheelchairs.
“I’m going to aggressively demand answers on how this tragic event took place,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott said in a statement. “Although the details of these reported deaths are still under investigation, this situation is unfathomable.”
The deaths at the nursing home, known as the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, may have been related to the loss of air conditioning, Hollywood Police Chief Tomas Sanchez told reporters.
“We believe at this time they may be related to the loss of power in the storm,” he said. “We’re conducting a criminal investigation, not ruling anything out at this time.”
The air conditioning at the facility was out, Sanchez said, but it remained under investigation whether power was entirely cut. He declined to answer when asked if a generator had been running inside.
Yellow police tape cordoned off the two-story, 152-bed nursing home where police and media satellite trucks parked outside.
The facility is across the street from the sprawling Memorial Hospital complex, which reportedly did not suffer electrical outages.
Three patients were found dead at the nursing home early Wednesday, according to various accounts, and the others apparently succumbed later after being evacuated to area hospitals.
The deaths spurred new concern for the effects of widespread power outages in a state that has one of the highest proportions of senior residents in the United States.
Authorities said they were moving to check that other nursing homes and elderly-care facilities were safe.
About 150 of the almost 700 nursing homes and other care facilities in Florida do not currently have full power, the Florida Health Care Assn., an industry group, said in a statement Wednesday.
The nursing home where the deaths occurred issued a statement lamenting “this unfortunate and tragic outcome,” which it said was the result of “a prolonged power failure to the transformer which powered the facility’s air conditioning system as a result of the hurricane.” The facility’s administration said it was “cooperating fully” with local authorities in their investigation.
The federal Medicare agency, in its online assessment of nursing homes, gives the for-profit facility a health inspection rating of “much below average” and an overall rating of “below average.”
A Medicare agency inspection of the Rehabilitation Center this year found a number of problems, including inadequate communication systems in showers and bathrooms, improper disposal of garbage, a failure to handle linens in a manner to prevent the spread of infection, a failure to ensure that patients were being fed proper portions of food, and a failure to “store, cook and serve food in a safe and clean way.”
The report did not mention the generator or potential problems with electrical outages.
The nursing home’s current ownership group took over in 2015 in bankruptcy auction proceedings after the previous majority owner was convicted in a Medicare fraud scheme.
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Trailer homes at the Sea Breeze trailer park in the Florida Keys town of Islamorada were destroyed by Irma.
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Tom Ross inspects the damage to his three-story condominium building in Islamorada.
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The remains of a boat in Islamorada.
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Brooke Gilbert, 15, and her father, Mike Gilbert, look at the ruins of her grandparents’ condominium building in Islamorada.
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Laura Gilbert retrieves the mailbox from her father’s condominium in Islamorada after it was swept away during the storm.
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Sand and debris block access to trailer homes in Islamorada.
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Greg Garner embraces neighbor Linda Nettles in front of his longtime family home that lost part of its roof after Tropical Storm Irma hit Sullivan’s Island, S.C.
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Israel Alvarado, 25, tries to open a gate blocked by fallen tree branches to retrieve a generator in Bonita Springs.
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Rescue workers help a couple evacuate their flooded home in Jacksonville.
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Charlotte Glaze, left gives Donna Lamb a hug as she floats out some of her belongings in floodwaters in Jacksonville,.
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Ron Colby, 70, leaves his flooded Bonita Springs home after staying during Hurricane Irma. He said he was OK with the wind but that at 3:30 in the morning the water started to rise.
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A dresser floats by Gilberto Diaz in his Bonita Springs neighborhood. Originally from Guatemala, Diaz has lived in Florida since 1994.
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In Bonita Springs, floodwaters reached waist deep in some areas on Monday, flooding homes and cars.
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A block from the ocean in Naples, the water was still a foot deep from storm surge. Homeowner Terry Clontz put up a “no wake” sign because people were driving by too fast, pushing water farther onto his property.
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Floodwaters surround a marina in Key Largo on Monday following Hurricane Irma.
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Mobile homes in Key Largo, Fla., lie in ruins on Monday after Hurricane Irma.
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Floodwaters surround Gilbert’s Resort in Key Largo on Monday.
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Kelly McClenthen returns to see the flood damage to her home with her boyfriend, Daniel Harrison, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Bonita Springs, Fla.
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Terry Thompson is relieved. He rode out the storm in his home in Riverwood Estates in Naples. Although the Naples area of Florida was hit hard by Hurricane Irma, damage wasn’t nearly as bad as anticipated.
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A woman leaves her flooded home the morning after Hurricane Irma swept through the area in Fort Myers, Florida.
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People tend to a car that flipped over on Cape Coral Parkway during Hurricane Irma, in Cape Coral.
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A man clears the drain next to his house in Estero, Fla., during the lull in winds as the eye of the hurricane passes over.
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Evacuees use flashlights so others can maneuver around the stairway at Hampton Inn and Suites in Estero, Fla.
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Guests gather in the lobby of Hampton Inn and Suites in Estero, Fla., to watch the hurricane gusts.
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Darla Talia Ferro, 40, and her two parakeets ride out Hurricane Irma in the lobby of Hampton Inn and Suites in Estero, Fla.
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John Krowzow, 74, wades in floodwater to check out his homes in Corkscrew Woodlands, a park with 640 senior mobile home units in Estero, Fla.
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Peter Moodley wades through floodwater in downtown Miami.
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Two men walk through a downed tree as Hurricane Irma’s full force strikes Miami.
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A woman films the damage from a house whose roof was blown off near downtown Miami.
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A vehicle drives through debris caused by Hurricane Irma, in Miami.
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Weather reporters in downtown Miami jump and cling on to illustrate the force of the winds caused by Hurricane Irma.
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Weather reporters do a stand-up as the force of the winds caused by Hurricane Irma hit Miami.
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A cargo truck is tipped over by the wind caused by Hurricane Irma in Miami.
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Storm surge floods the Brickell neighborhood of Miami.
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Streets are empty in downtown Miami as the wind picks up speed during Hurricane Irma’s approach.
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Maria Koenig, 63, of Estero, Fla., and her dog, Baeley, sit by the window at their Estero hotel so Maria can keep an eye on the storm on Sunday.
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Glen Sinatra, 69, from Naples, says he feels lucky to be at a hotel in Estero instead of a shelter. He’s nervous about the storm and says he’s trying not to worry his children about the conditions.
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Jimmy Alfano, of Ft. Myers, holds onto Alec Hoskins who is autistic, while watching the storm gusts through the window of their Estero hotel with Frank Pairs.
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A car sits abandoned in storm surge along North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard as Hurricane Irma hits the southern part of the state.
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The metal canopy at a gasoline station is overturned by high winds brought on by Hurricane Irma.
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Youssef Ezzou, left, and Fadel Beznbachir roam outside to check out the conditions in Miami as Hurricane Irma nears the mainland.
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A construction crane whose arm broke off towers over a building as high wind blows through downtown Miami on Sunday.
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A man and woman run to safety in Miami as winds from Hurricane Irma bear down on Sunday.
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Storefronts in Miami are damaged as Hurricane Irma’s winds hit Miami.
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Dustin Terkoski, Palm Bay Police officer surveys the scene after a possible tornado touched down at Palm Pam Bay Estates.
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A man braces against the wind by the Miami River on Sunday as water levels surge.
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A man stands by the Miami River as the water level surges on Sunday.
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The waves on the Miami River begin to surge Sunday as winds pick up speed upon Hurricane Irma’s approach.
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Brian Williams, of Maryland, fights the winds in downtown Fort Myers.
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Trees fall as winds pick up speed early Sunday as Hurricane Irma approaches Miami.
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A TV reporter braces against the wind as Hurricane Irma approaches Miami.
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The outer bands of Hurricane Irma start to reach Florida on Saturday, with clouds over the Miami skyline.
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People wade through a flooded street in Havana after Hurricane Irma battered central Cuba.
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Thousands wait Saturday to enter a storm shelter set up at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla., south of Fort Myers.
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Jean Turner, 79, waits to get into a shelter with a few of her belongings as rain begins to fall Saturday in Estero, Fla.
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Sherri Bourdo, 32, and Anthony Guidry, 40, look out over the water in Naples, Fla, in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Irma.
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Lisette Toroella and Tatiana Morera play on the beach as storm clouds approach in Miami Beach.
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Adam Todd, does a handstand while skateboarding down a virtually empty Ocean Drive in Miami Beach.
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Abby Jenkins walks against the wind with her luggage and umbrella to get to safety, in Miami Beach.
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James Sampero surfs in the churning ocean as Hurricane Irma approaches.
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Cubans wade through the rubble from a collapsed building in Havana on Saturday.
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A woman and child use a blanket as protection from wind and rain as they walk in Caibarien, Cuba. Hurricane Irma battered Cuba on Saturday with deafening winds and unremitting rain, pushing seawater inland and flooding homes before turning toward Florida.
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Annette Davis plays with her son Darius, 3, while staying at a shelter in Miami on Saturday after evacuating from their home in Florida City ahead of Hurricane Irma.
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Residents walk through rain brought on by Hurricane Irma in Caibarien, Cuba. The powerful storm battered Cuba on Saturday and continued its march toward Florida.
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Palmetto Ridge High School is a shelter for people with special needs near Naples, Fla. Many seniors plan to ride out the storm there.
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Francesca DeLuca, age 20, will be waiting for 10 hours for her flight back to Milan, Italy. She had been visiting a friend in Miami by herself, but the area where she was staying is under mandatory evacuation. At Miami International Airport, the last flights will be this afternoon with the airport closing tonight at 6pm. Most travelers are taking flights to anywhere they can find.
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Boats that can’t be evacuated are tied off in canals to protect them from Hurricane Irma on in Key Largo, Florida. The entire Florida Keys are under a mandatory evacuation notice as Hurricane Irma approaches the low-lying chain of islands south of Miami.
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Hundreds wait in line on Friday at Home Depot in Miami to get supplies line sheets of plywood, and anything else they can find, to board up their homes. Police were on the scene to keep things orderly.
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In the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, Fritz Drinks, whose family is from Haiti, helps load sandbags at Little Haiti Hardware and Lumber. Many people in the area are refusing to evacuate in advance of Hurricane Irma.
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In downtowm Miaimi, people wait to get on a bus headed to Orlando under a mandatory evacution plan. Preparations are underway for Hurricane Irma as the storm makes its way toward Florida.
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Stores are boarded up in Miami Beach in advance of Hurricane Irma.
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Preparations for Hurricane Irma are underway in Miami Beach as the storm makes its way toward Florida.
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Genaro Dacosta, 65, of Miami Beach loads sandbags in advance of Hurricane Irma. He says he can’t evacuate the area because he has a monkey.
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An aerial photograph taken and released by the Dutch Department of Defense on Wednesday shows damage from Hurricane Irma in Philipsburg, St. Maarten.
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Juan Negron, third from left, prepares to start up a power generator in front of what’s left of his damaged property in Culebra, Puerto Rico, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.
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Residents come out to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Irma in Nagua, Dominican Republic.
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People on Thursday look over damage from Hurricane Irma on a sand-covered street of Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the island of St. Maarten.
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Inmate trustees from the Brevard County Jail fill sandbags for Meritt Island, Fla., residents in advance of Hurricane Irma.
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Motorists leave Key Largo, Fla., ahead of Hurricane Irma.
(Alan Diaz / Associated Press) Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said he is asking the secretary of Health and Human Services to look into what happened.
State law mandates that nursing homes have emergency preparation plans in place — including emergency power options — for natural disasters. Industry representatives said they were taking additional steps to ensure safety in the wake of the storm.
In Miami-Dade County, nearly 442,000 of its 1.1 million customers had outages, according to Florida Power & Light. In Broward County, 300,000 were without power, and in Palm Beach County about 260,000 outages were reported, according to the company. Florida Power & Light estimates it will restore power to all of its customers in South Florida by the weekend.
Rising temperatures and a lack of power have made it difficult for seniors and children in the days since Irma. Officials from the Miami-Dade Public School District said schools would remain closed the rest of the week because of power issues.
The continued lack of power in South Florida has forced people to change their lifestyles and, in some cases, to find alternative short-term housing.
“It’s just been very hard, especially for our son,” said Yulayki Guillen, 24, who found a hotel in downtown Miami along with her husband, mother and 5-year-old son, Luis.
The family spent Tuesday night in the hotel, paying about $200, after several difficult evenings without electricity in their condominium north of downtown.
“Our son was very uncomfortable — he couldn’t sleep, he was sweating, and he was out of his routine,” said Guillen, sitting in the lobby of the hotel with her family. “So we decided to come here. At least there’s air conditioning. Luis likes it here. He wants to stay.”
Food is another issue. Many stores remain closed because of the lack of electricity, meaning people are converging on the relatively few shops and eateries that are open. Waits are often considerable.
“Even to get fast food at a Burger King or McDonald’s, there was a line around the corner,” Guillen said.
Since Irma made landfall on Sunday, 13 people in Florida were killed in storm-related circumstances — in some cases during the cleanup efforts — in addition to those who died at the nursing home. Elsewhere, Irma was blamed for four deaths in South Carolina and two in Georgia. At least 37 people were killed in the Caribbean.
President Trump plans to visit Naples, Fla., on Thursday to meet with first responders and residents affected by the storm.
McDonnell reported from Hollywood, Fla., and Lee from Los Angeles. Times researcher Scott Wilson in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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UPDATES:
4:50 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.
2:15 p.m.: This article was updated with a new death toll, which rose to eight.
1:35 p.m.: This article was updated with pertinent state regulations for nursing homes and comments from an advocacy group for the elderly.
11:45 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Florida Gov. Rick Scott and information about hospitalized patients.
9 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting and additional details, including a report of a sixth death at the Hollywood, Fla., nursing home.
This article was originally published at 7:40 a.m.
