- The Rehabilitation Center, in Hollywood, Florida, was evacuated this morning
- Two residents died at the facility, and another three died a short time later while receiving treatment at the nearby Memorial Regional Hospital
- Officials at the scene have blamed the center’s faulty air conditioning unit
- Unit broke during Hurricane Irma and Airstron employee Dave Long says he’s been calling Florida Power & Light for days to fix the faulty fuse – to no avail
Five people are dead at a Florida nursing home after the building’s air-conditioning broke during Hurricane Irma.
The Rehabilitation Center, in Hollywood, was evacuated at early this morning after two residents died and several others became seriously ill.
The sick residents were rushed to the nearby Memorial Regional Hospital where another three died a short time later, Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief said at a morning press conference.
Five dead at a Florida nursing home left without air conditioning for days after it broke during Hurricane Irma (pictured is Hurricane Irma in Florida on September 10)
The neighboring Larkin Community Hospital was also being evacuated, Local 10 reports.
Airstron employee Dave Long – who was called out to fix the problem – said he’d been calling Florida Power & Light for days to fix a fuse which appeared to have popped out during the hurricane.
Without the fuse, he was unable to repair the unit.
‘There’s nothing we can do,’ said a ‘frustrated’ Long. ‘We’ve been calling and calling. It just doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and I can’t do anything until we get that fuse popped back in.’
Footage from the scene shows patients being rolled out of the nursing home on stretchers and taken to Memorial Regional Hospital.