Eight die at Florida hospital as Irma disrupts power supply

Eight people were killed at the Florida nursing home after the power was disrupted due to Hurricane Irma.

According to media reports, the causes of their death were not immediately clear, but are believed to have died due to problems with the lack of air-conditioning in the building.

After the incident, the nursing home evacuated all of its patients.

The remaining patients were treated for respiratory distress, dehydration and heat-related issues, officials said.

Irma, which decimated the Caribbean as a top-tier Category 5 hurricane before losing strength after repeated landfalls in the continental U.S., was downgraded to a tropical storm Monday.

It left close to 13 million people in Florida without power and 180,000 without a home.

Irma caused at least two dozen deaths in the Caribbean before churning over Cuba and moving up to the continental U.S.

Ahead of its arrival, the hurricane triggered mass evacuations, with more than 6 million in Florida and neighboring states asked to flee.

The damage from Irma is estimated around $100 billion or 0.5 of a percentage point of U.S. GDP of $19 trillion.

Irma is currently tied as the second-strongest Atlantic hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. Only Hurricane Allen, in 1980, was stronger, with peak winds of about 190 mph (305 kilometers per hour).

Florida are reckoning with significant wreckage and floodwater along its coasts and on inland farms. Reports and images show inundated streets and damage to buildings, vehicles, boats, and trees in the particularly Florida Keys, where FEMA says 25 percent of houses have been destroyed.

Cities hard hit include Everglades City, Miami, Naples, and small towns in between. Millions are still without power. Jacksonville, a city with a population of nearly 900,000 people, experienced record flooding. On Tuesday, the Florida Times-Union reported that 356 Jacksonville residents had to be rescued.