4 Die in Post-Irma Generator Accidents

Parts of Florida could be without power for weeks
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 13, 2017 5:21 AM CDT
4 Die in Post-Irma Generator Accidents
A large tree rests on power lines after heavy winds and rain from Irma hit Athens, Ga., on Tuesday.   (Joshua L. Jones/Athens Banner-Herald via AP)

Millions of people in Florida are still without power after Hurricane Irma, and the outage has led to more than one deadly incident. Police say three people in Orlando died from carbon monoxide poisoning Tuesday after running a generator inside their home. Another four family members were hospitalized in serious condition, the Orlando Sentinel reports. A police spokesman says two adults and a child died and it's "not looking so good" for the family members in the hospital, News 6 reports. Authorities, who say at least another dozen people in the area were sickened by generators in their garages, warn that generators should never be used indoors. At least one similar death has happened in Miami.

Irma left at least 13 million people without power in Florida and the rest of the Southeast, leaving many people struggling with the heat amid one of the biggest blackouts in US history, the AP reports. "The biggest thing we've got to do for people is get their power back," says Florida Gov. Rick Scott. In the Miami area, those still without power include the 15,000-person Century Village retirement community, where residents can't plug in oxygen machines or comply with the boil-water advisory, the Miami Herald reports. The state's largest utility, Florida Power & Light, says it aims to restore power to the east coast by Sunday and the southwest part of the state within 10 days. (More Hurricane Irma stories.)

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