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Trump arrives in storm-hit Florida, 3.1 million still without power

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FORT MYERS: US President Donald Trump arrived in storm-ravaged Florida on Thursday to survey the damage wrought by Hurricane Irma, the second major storm to hit the United States this year, which killed dozens and has left millions without power.


Trump’s visit comes the day after police in Hollywood, Florida, launched an criminal investigation into a nursing home where eight patients died after the facility lost power and continued to operate with little or no air-conditioning in sweltering heat.


The death toll from Irma stood at 81 on Thursday, with several hard-hit Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands accounting for more than half of the fatalities.


Florida officials including Governor Rick Scott and US Senator Marco Rubio greeted Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in Fort Myers, Florida.


“Let’s go see how we’re doing because I think we’re doing a good job in Florida,” Trump told reporters in Fort Myers after fielding questions about a potential deal with Democratic lawmakers on protections for illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children.


The visit marked Trump’s third visit to a storm-hit part of the United States in the past three weeks, following two visits to Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s record flooding.


Firefighters and medics responding to an emergency call in Hollywood north of Miami found three people dead inside a building whose second floor the police chief later described as “extremely hot.”


Hollywood, Florida, officials said eight people between the ages of 71 and 99 died at the for-profit Rehabilitation Centre at Hollywood Hills, but the causes were not yet determined. An investigation of possible criminal negligence was under way, Hollywood Police Chief Tomas Sanchez told reporters.


Irma rampaged through the Caribbean, devastating several islands and raking the northern shore of Cuba last week.


It barrelled into the Florida Keys island chain on Sunday, packing sustained winds of up to 215 km per hour before ploughing up the Gulf Coast of the state and dissipating.


In addition to severe flooding across Florida and extensive property damage in the Keys, residents faced widespread power outages that initially plunged more than half the state into darkness.


Some 3.1 million homes and businesses, representing close to one-third of the state’s population, were without power on Thursday in Florida and neighbouring states. — Reuters


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