U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., warned state and federal officials of possible tragedy before any residents died at Hollywood, Fla.-based Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, reports The Hill.
A number of residents have died at the nursing home since it lost power and air conditioning in the wake of the storm.
But before any deaths occurred, Ms. Wilson, along with state and federal representatives, participated in a Sept. 12 conference call where the congresswoman warned power needed to be restored to local long-term care facilities to prevent deaths, according to the report.
Commenting on the conference call, Ms. Wilson told The Hill, "Immediately, I started to get calls [from long-term care facilities]. A lot of them didn't have power, and that's why I was raising a concern.
"My message was: They needed to assist with turning the lights on and getting the generators fixed in those nursing homes, because someone is going to die," she added.
The conference call, which was hosted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, took place the day before authorities evacuated patients and closed the nursing home following the deaths of eight residents. Additional residents have since died. As of Tuesday morning, a total of 11 deaths had been attributed to the situation at the nursing home after Hurricane Irma, reports The Hill. Florida officials suspended the nursing home's license last week.
The Hill noted it's unclear "anyone could have prevented those deaths by heeding [Ms.] Wilson's warning," and reports the congresswoman is placing blame on "all levels of government, the nursing home and the power company, Florida Power & Light."
The publication also references a report from The New York Times that it states highlighted calls the nursing home made to Florida Power & Light, state health and emergency officials, and Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott's personal cellphone, "asking for someone to repair a damaged transformer that powered the air-conditioning system." The calls reportedly came before any deaths took place.
According to The Hill, Mr. Scott has repeatedly argued the nursing home should have called 911 if there was an emergency situation with residents.
A FEMA spokesperson told the publication, "As natural disasters threaten, FEMA maintains regular communications with delegations representing both expected and known impacted areas. As state and local officials identify resource needs during a disaster, FEMA works to support their response and recovery efforts when those needs exceed their capability to respond."