Dangers linger as Florida recovery picks up momentum
Associated Press
MIAMI
Nearly a week after Hurricane Irma walloped Florida, the recovery mission picked up momentum as more people had electricity and schools made plans to reopen.
Still, the dangers lingered, mostly in the form of noxious gas from generators serving those who still didn’t have power.
North Carolina reported its first Irma-related death Friday after a man died from carbon monoxide poisoning, and two more people died in Florida from the dangerous fumes, including a woman in Palm Beach County.
Near Miami, a family of four was treated for exposure to the fumes from a generator outside of their apartment.
At least 36 people have died in the U.S. under Irma-related circumstances, the vast majority in Florida. The death toll across the Caribbean stood at 38.
Meanwhile, the state made urgent efforts to protect its vulnerable elderly residents.
Eight people died at a nursing home when the hurricane knocked out power and the facility lost air conditioning. The deaths at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills were believed to be heat-related.
Several other nursing homes were evacuated because of a lack of power or air conditioning. Officials said about 1.9 million homes and businesses were without power, including 64 nursing homes.
Two top Florida Republican state senators say legislators will consider bills during their next session to require nursing homes to have generators.
Sen. Anitere Flores, a Miami Republican, on Friday called the deaths that occurred at the Broward County nursing home this week “unacceptable.” She predicted that someone connected to the nursing home will “probably go to jail over this.”
Flores, who was in the state House at the time, acknowledged that legislators were wrong back in 2006 to reject legislation requiring generators.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Jose re-strengthened into a Category 1, but there was no current threat to land.
Some strengthening was forecast through today, with weakening possibly beginning on late Sunday.
The National Hurricane Center said swells from the storm could create dangerous surf and rip current conditions in Bermuda, Bahamas, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, as well as the southeastern coast of the U.S.