In the wake of Hurricane Irma, a gruesome discovery was made in Hollywood, Florida. The massive Power Outage caused by the storm led to misery, and now, it seems – death. At least eight people from the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills have died. Although the cause of their death is not immediately known, it is believed one person died from a heart attack while the others suffered respiratory distress. The nursing home had been without air conditioning ever since Irma knocked out the power. Firefighters have since evacuated around 115 residents from the nursing home with a number of them suffering from respiratory problems.
Dozens are in critical condition.
Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief announced that three people died at the home and three were declared dead at Memorial Regional Hospital, which ironically is located directly across the street, 50 yards away. During a Wednesday morning press conference, Hollywood Police Chief Tomas Sanchez said his department was conducting a criminal investigation in the matter. Three of the deceased have been identified as Carolyn Eatherly, 78, Estella Hendricks, 71, and Gail Nova, 71.
Flora Mitchell, 61, went to the center to visit her sister around noon and found her dripping in sweat from head to toe. Mitchell has had no luck in getting information from first responders on the condition of her sister.
Her 58-year-old sister, who can’t walk or talk, had been a resident of the home for 10 years.
Irma left behind a trail of human suffering and destruction
While it is not clear how long they had been without power, the nursing home released a statement confirming there was prolonged power failure to the transformer as a result of the hurricane. Police Chief Sanchez added that police will also be checking out the city’s 42 assisted living facilities.
Officials said patients from a behavioral unit at Larkin Community Hospital were being evacuated as well.
Climate crises shows how the earth is groaning
County Commissioner Beam Furr pointed out how critical it was for older residents virtually trapped in facilities with inoperable elevators due to lack of power. A Coral Gables apartment building was evacuated after it was determined to be unsafe for elderly tenants due to lack of power. More than half of the 15,000 residents at Century Village retirement community in Pembroke Pines are currently without power.
