Hurricane Irma Death Toll Climbs to 34

Hurricane Irma has claimed the lives of 34 people in Florida, a number which has steadily risen in the days after the storm made landfall in the Sunshine State.

The most powerful storm to sweep through the Atlantic has killed more than 70 people around the world, with a significant number of those deaths coming from Florida.

Most of the deaths occurred after Irma made landfall last week, first hitting the Keys as a Category 4 storm before making a second landfall in Marco Island. 

Some of the deaths occurred because of carbon monoxide poisoning, a dangerous effect of leaving generators running indoors. 

One incident of carbon monoxide poisoning occurred in Lakeland, where a mother unknowingly placed a generator inside her home, killing her daughter.

Polk County Sheriff’s officials said the girl’s mother was found sitting outside of her house, complaining about dizziness. Law enforcement officials then went inside the home and retrieved the young girl’s body.

Another happened in Miami, where an elderly man was found unresponsive with a generator inside his home.

"Unfortunately in this case, the generator was run inside the house and the individual died of carbon monoxide poisoning," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said.

The story was an altogether too common one, with at least eight people perishing as a result of running generators inside their homes. 

In the fishing community of Everglades City, an intense storm surge prompted suspicions of a public health crisis as toxic stormwaters were speculated to have infected several people last week.

According to USA Today, Lee Marteeny, 72, died at a local hospital after doctors treated him for respiratory failure and internal bleeding.

Red sores on the man’s legs, allegedly caused by poor circulation and heart disease, “turned black after he waded through Hurricane Irma’s floodwaters.”

Another man cut his leg while cleaning after Irma hit. He, too, fell victim to an infection and had to have his leg amputated. 

Eight people died last week after a nursing home in Hollywood lost power. The facility became incredibly hot, causing patients to go into cardiac arrest. 

Hollywood police have launched a full investigation into the incident and lawmakers from around the state have called for an overhaul in regulations on assisted living facilities and nursing homes, pushing to require all facilities to have working generators in the case of a power failure.

On Saturday, Gov. Rick Scott issued emergency rules requiring all ALFs and nursing homes to have working generators and ample fuel supplies to prevent another tragedy similar to the Hollywood nursing home deaths. 

“Every facility that is charged with caring for patients must take every action and precaution to keep their patients safe – especially patients that are in poor health,” Scott said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.