Florida governor’s cellphone was bottleneck in Irma response

Florida governor's cellphone was bottleneck in Irma response | iNFOnews.ca
FILE - This Sept. 13, 2017, file photo, a patient is transported from The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills after a loss of air conditioning due to Hurricane Irma in Hollywood, Fla. Twelve elderly patients died after being kept inside a nursing home that turned into a sweatbox when Hurricane Irma knocked out its air conditioning for three days. As Hurricane Irma bore down on Florida, Gov. Rick Scott gave out his cellphone number during a conference call of the state's nursing home and assisted living facility administrators and said to contact him if they ran into problems and he would try to get help. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – An Associated Press analysis shows Florida Gov. Rick Scott may have delayed aid to nursing homes by telling their administrators to call his cellphone if they needed help when Hurricane Irma hit the state in September.

About 120 nursing home representatives called into his voicemail. An aide listened to the recordings, took note of names, numbers and problems, and emailed the information to other aides to get them contacted.

Some of these administrators told The Associated Press that Scott deserves credit for getting them help after the storm, but others say the cumbersome process may have slowed their recovery and encouraged unrealistic and possibly dangerous expectations, since power outages were clearly beyond a governor’s control.

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