8 dead at Florida nursing home after Hurricane Irma knocked out air conditioning

The rehabilitation center in Hollywood, Florida.
(Image credit: Angel Valentin/Getty Images)

Officials in Hollywood, Florida, said eight elderly people living at a nursing home died after Hurricane Irma knocked out power, leaving them with no air conditioning.

At least 115 people have been evacuated from the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, with some in respiratory distress. The center, which sits across the street from a hospital with full air conditioning, has a backup generator, but that doesn't power the air conditioner, a faculty administrator said, and the residents were left in stifling heat. Broward County said the facility notified it on Tuesday that it had lost power, but did not ask for help. The deceased residents have been identified as Bobby Owens, 84; Manuel Mario Medieta, 96; Miguel Antonio Franco, 92; Estella Hendricks, 71; Gail Nova, 71; Carolyn Eatherly, 78; Betty Hibbard, 84; and Albertina Vega, 99.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.