JUDY WOODRUFF: All across
Florida tonight, they're working
to turn the lights back on

and repair hurricane damage.

And now there's a new fear.

Eight people died today at a
nursing home, spotlighting the
plight of the elderly caught

up in Irma's aftermath,
in a state with four
million senior citizens.

Our John Yang
begins our coverage.

JOHN YANG: The tragedy
struck at this nursing
home in Hollywood, Florida.

Officials said it had
electricity, but the air
conditioning wasn't working.

TOMAS SANCHEZ, Hollywood,
Florida, Police Chief: Our
investigation has revealed that

it's extremely hot on the
second floor of the facility.

JOHN YANG: Police Chief Tomas
Sanchez gave few details.

TOMAS SANCHEZ: We are conducting
a criminal investigation inside.

We believe at this time it
may be related to the loss of
power in the storm, but we're

conducting a criminal
investigation, not
ruling anything out.

JOHN YANG: Authorities evacuated
more than a hundred patients
to nearby hospitals, many

on stretchers and
in wheelchairs.

Robert Gould, with the
state's largest power utility,
suggested it all could have been

prevented.

ROBERT GOULD, Florida Power &
Light: It points to the need
for having plans in advance when

it comes to emergency
preparation.

This facility wasn't listed as
a top critical infrastructure --
top-tier critical infrastructure

facility.

And that's what we work with
the counties, for them to help
identify those facilities.

JOHN YANG: Across Florida,
utility crews have
been working around the
clock to restore power,

and there have been other
reports of elderly tenants
trapped in their homes.

The situation is especially
dire in the Keys, home
to some 70,000 people.

Some areas remain
unreachable to all except
search-and-rescue teams.

The aircraft carrier Abraham
Lincoln is off Key West, a
floating base for helicopters

delivering aid.

Urgent repairs are under way
on US-1, the lone highway
connecting the islands.

And water service is slowly
being restored to those like
Shawne Street, who rode out

the storm in Cudjoe Key.

SHAWNE STREET, Hurricane Victim:
When Katrina hit Louisiana
and stuff like that, and you

feel sorry for the people
and you think, what
are they going through?

But when it hits home, it's
totally different, you know?

And it's not just us.

It's everybody.

JOHN YANG: Evacuees are slowly
trickling back, returning
to survey what's left.

MAN: I expected some debris,
because we knew the direction
that the winds were blowing,

they were going to carry
debris onto our property.

It has happened before.

We were not expecting to find
somebody else's sailboat on our
backyard, and someone else's

dock with a fishing
station on our backyard.

JOHN YANG: The economic
costs of Irma are mounting.

State agencies report an
estimated $250 million
in storm preparation
and recovery expenses

so far, and that price
tag is expected to
soar before it's over.

For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm John Yang.