FLORIDA DEATHS FROM HURRICANE 72 IRMA:
Wide-ranging storm’s toll could near 100 as more investigations wrap up
While Hurricane Irma wasn’t the strongest storm to make landfall in Florida, it turned out to be one of the deadliest for the state in recent history.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management, relying on information from county medical examiners, has now put the number of people who died as a result of September’s massive storm at 72. That’s up from 50 first reported in the weeks after Irma.
The state total may rise close to 100 in the coming months — once authorities in Broward County, the Florida Keys and other regions wrap up additional death investigations.
The reason the storm was especially deadly and caused so much damage was because of the path it took, experts say.
“It caused significant damage because it moved from south to north. It covered the entire state,” said Anthony Reynes, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “Historically, the storms come from the east or the west — the Atlantic or the Gulf.”
That it went the entire length of the state is “fairly rare,” he said. “That’s what made it dangerous.”
Bryan Norcross, meteorologist for The Weather Channel and famous for his Hurricane Andrew television news coverage in Miami in 1992, said Irma stands out from Andrew because of its size.
More than 40 people died in Florida from Andrew.
“Andrew was extremely powerful but extremely small in physical size,” he said. “Irma was nowhere near as strong, of course, but it covered such a vast area [that] so many more people were directly affected.”
That’s in contrast to Andrew, which “affected really a corridor 25 miles wide,” he said.
Broward County
In Broward, two more Irma-related deaths were recently reported to the state, bringing the county’s new total to nine.
In one case, the death of a woman in a diabetic coma is linked to the hurricane because paramedics couldn’t get to her in time with the high winds.
Karyn Sue Lica Duffy’s boyfriend awoke at 4 a.m. to find her unresponsive. He called for help but “due to Hurricane [Irma’s] sustained winds, fire rescue was not responding to calls,” according to the Broward Medical Examiner’s office reports. As her breathing slowed, her boyfriend drove her to a Fort Lauderdale hospital. Duffy, 48, died days later. In another case, Eloy Cardenas, 86, opened his front door in Miami Gardens the night before Irma made landfall, “and the wind was so strong it knocked him onto the floor,” according to reports form the Broward Medical Examiner’s Office.
Cardenas’ daughter called 911, but he declined to go to the hospital, the office said. When he later seemed confused, she drove him to a hospital, the office said. Cardenas died from his injury days later at a Broward hospital.
Other Broward deaths include a man falling off a ladder while installing shutters and a woman who, while sleeping on the floor, was accidentally kicked in the neck by a family member in the dark during the storm.
Broward’s official tally could rise. The state’s current tally excludes those who died in Hollywood after a nursing home lost power and air conditioning during Irma.
The nursing home was evacuated Sept. 13. The deaths of 12 residents were ruled by a medical examiner this week to be homicides
due to heat exposure, while two other deaths were found to not be related to the lack of power or air conditioning.
Palm Beach County
The number of deaths has risen to five in Palm Beach County, up from four. The fifth person whose death was reported was Johnnie Kotake, 74.
Kotake is among those who fell victim to carbon monoxide poisoning in mid-September, when a generator set up outside a residence near Loxahatchee filled the residence with carbon monoxide. The generator’s exhaust pipe was pointed toward the garage door, which was slightly open.
Kotake’s relative, Elaine Kotake, 66, was found dead. Her death was reported weeks ago to the state. Johnnie Kotake was one of three men who were hospitalized. He died later in the hospital.
In unrelated cases in Palm Beach County, one person died from blunt trauma and two drowned, state records show.
Miami-Dade County
In recent weeks, MiamiDade reported one more death to the state, raising the total to five. The four prior deaths stemmed from carbon monoxide poisoning, electrocution and two who died from blunt force injury. In the fifth case, someone died in a medical emergency linked to a heart complication.
The Florida Keys
Monroe County — which includes the Florida Keys, one of the state’s hardest-hit regions — has reported six storm-related deaths to the state. But a total of 17 cases could eventually be deemed storm-related, Monroe Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Steckbauer said Tuesday. Toxicology tests are pending.
Of the cases during and after Irma, “a handful appear to have been a direct result of the storm,” Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Becky Herrin said. “Irma was certainly a serious storm, which damaged and destroyed many people’s homes and businesses in the Keys.”
Two people died from blunt force injuries, one died from subdural hematoma (a head injury), and three others died from medical emergencies during the storm, state records show. Officials didn’t provide additional details about the deaths this week.
Florida’s deadliest storms
While hurricanes have killed many people in Florida in recent decades, there were hurricanes long ago that killed hundreds, if not thousands, in the state.
The deadliest natural disaster in Florida history was a 1928 Category 4 hurricane that struck near West Palm Beach with 150 mph winds. It angled over Lake Okeechobee, triggering severe flooding. The hurricane ultimately killed at least 2,500 people.
Two years before the 1928 storm, a Category 4 hurricane hit Miami, killing hundreds.
Advancements in technology have given people more time to prepare, including for evacuations, officials say.
For Irma, many lives were saved because “we saw a large part of our Keys population evacuate,” Herrin said. “If this had not been the case, the death toll certainly could have been higher than it was.”
Davie Police Maj. Dale Engle, whose city had a death where a man fell from a ladder while putting up shutters, said the public must remain vigilant every storm season.
This year’s hurricane season ends Thursday.
“We all need to take responsibility for our families to ensure the safety of everybody involved,” Engle said. “We all need to take steps to better prepare.”