FEMA Knew the Dangers to Older Citizens during Major Disasters At least six people have died as a result.
By Michael Webster, Syndicated Investigative Reporter. 1200 Noon Sept 13, 2017 PDT
Why Fema wasn’t better prepared? The 15000 Fema employees all know the vulnerabilities of the elderly during and after disasters. FEMA should have made sure that all nursing homes and other elderly care facilities were evacuated during the week or so before the storm hit. FEMA’S director Brock Long has a lengthy back ground in emergency preparedness, especially when it comes to helpless older folks. Emergency managers around the country wonder why Fema wasn’t more aggressive in evacuating or at least insisting that their first responders evacuate venerable and helpless elderly. All Six patients at a sweltering Hollywood nursing home died in Hurricane Irma's aftermath, authorities said Wednesday, as people confronted a multitude of known hazards in the storm's wake.
FEMA trains and finances first responders across the country the very people who should know. Fema either knew or should have known the dangers and should have taken appropriate life saving action.
Hollywood Police Chief Tom Sanchez said investigators believe the deaths at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills were heat-related, and added: "The building has been sealed off and we are conducting a criminal investigation." He did not elaborate.
Three patients were found dead at the nursing home early Wednesday, and three more died at the hospital after a total of more than 100 were evacuated, many of them on stretchers or in wheelchairs, authorities said.
The air conditioning was out, but Sanchez said it remained under investigation whether power was entirely cut. He didn't answer questions regarding whether a generator was running inside the place.
Also in the Miami area, a Coral Gables apartment building was evacuated after authorities determined a lack of power made it unsafe for elderly tenants, while officers arrived at the huge Century Village retirement community in Pembroke Pines to help people on upper floors without access to working elevators. More than half the community of 15,000 residents lacked power.
In addition, at least five people died and more than a dozen were treated after breathing carbon monoxide fumes from generators in the Orlando, Miami and Daytona Beach areas.
Not counting the nursing home deaths and the more expected at least 13 people in Florida have died under in Irma-related circumstances, many of them well after the storm had passed. Many fear there will be more elderly fatalities discovered and others thank God that the Hurricane was not larger. Next time it maybe and many more elderly may parish.
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