‘Waiting for help that never came’: Fla. nursing home where eight died after Irma defends actions, says it called governor for help - The Washington Post

"The night before Hurricane Irma began roaring over Florida, staffers at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills locked the doors, shuttered the windows and turned the temperature down to about 67 degrees — a buffer, administrators thought, to keep the building cool in case the power went out.



It wouldn’t last long. About 3 p.m. on Sunday, the lights flickered, nursing-home executives say. The power stayed on, but a janitor soon noticed a problem: The massive chiller used to serve the 152-bed facility was spewing warm, muggy air.



The following evening, Natasha Anderson, one of the executives, called a private phone number for Gov. Rick Scott (R) seeking urgent help, Anderson said. It was the first of three such calls, she said, to a number that officials confirmed Scott gave out to nursing homes as an emergency backup in planning calls before the storm.



“Repeatedly, I was told that our case was being escalated to the highest level,” Anderson said.



Yet, she said, no one came — and nursing-home officials did not consider the crisis urgent enough to bring patients to the hospital across the road."



‘Waiting for help that never came’: Fla. nursing home where eight died after Irma defends actions, says it called governor for help - The Washington Post