Eight die in Florida nursing home after Hurricane Irma knocks out power

Eight people died at a Florida nursing home on Wednesday that was left without power for days after Hurricane Irma struck. Mayor Barbara Sharief was quoted by WSVN TV as saying that three people died at the nursing home in Hollywood, north of Miami, and two more after they were taken to a hospital.Some 120 residents of the facility have been evacuated “due to intense heat and no power,” WSVN said.

The deaths, if confirmed as storm-related, would take the death toll in Florida from the hurricane to at least 17. Ten million people are still without power in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas after being hit by Hurricane Irma.

The storm - which has claimed more than two dozen lives in the US - struck southwestern Florida on Sunday morning as a category four hurricane before weakening to a tropical depression on Monday.

With PTI inputs