After Irma, 50 nursing homes still without power in Florida
As Florida continues its recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Irma, about 50 nursing homes are still without power in the state, the Florida Health Care Association said Friday.
“As of the morning of Friday, September 15, approximately 50 facilities out of the 683 nursing homes in the state currently do not have commercial power services restored,” the group said in a statement.
Concerns have mounted regarding care for Florida’s elderly this week, after it was revealed that 8 seniors died in a nursing home on Wednesday after Irma cut off power to the facility’s air conditioner. On Wednesday, state officials announced they were conducting a criminal investigation into what happened to the victims. Police officers had also been ordered to check the other nursing homes in the area to make sure they were in satisfactory condition, according to the Hollywood Florida police chief.
Widespread power outages are expected to take weeks to resolve in some areas. As of Friday, more than 1.6 million, or 16% of, accounts were still without power, according to FloridaDisaster.org.