Police confirm six fatalities at a Hollywood, Florida nursing home Wednesday morning, days after Hurricane Irma knocked out the facility’s air conditioning.
The deaths were confirmed as 100 residents were evacuated from the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.
Hurricane Irma made landfall near Naples on Florida’s west coast on Saturday. Hollywood is on Florida’s southeast coast, about 100 miles away from where the storm hit.
Aerial news footage showed police and facility staff evacuating patients from the nursing home on Wednesday.
A police spokesman said the residents were evacuated after the nursing home suffered a “prolonged power failure” that knocked out the facility’s air conditioning for days.
Police did not disclose the cause of the deaths, but the elderly residents may have succumbed to heat exhaustion and dehydration.
In a statement released to NBC6 News, the facility administrator said, “Unfortunately, early this morning several patients experienced distressed and there were three fatalities.”
Police have confirmed 6 fatalities at the nursing home.
