Families say 2 Sarasota County deaths initially connected to Hurricane Ian not related to storm
Two deaths initially reported by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office as appearing to be linked to power outages caused by Hurricane Ian may not be related to the storm after all.
The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office announced in a Facebook post on Friday that an elderly man and woman — unrelated to each other — died after power outages disabled their oxygen machines. A sheriff's spokesperson relayed the same information to a Sarasota Herald-Tribune reporter Friday afternoon.
Incident reports obtained by the Herald-Tribune indicate the deaths were that of 78-year-old Brazilian native, Frida Azevedo Da Rosa, and Frank Idzik, 95.
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However, Idzik's family said Tuesday over the phone that his death wasn't related to the storm and that Idzik had suffered a stroke.
The incident report states Idzik and his son, who live on Siesta Key, moved further inland to another home in Sarasota County that wasn't in an evacuation zone. The report states that Idzik was on an oxygen machine that stopped because of a power outage.
The incident report related to Da Rosa's death did not include any mention of an oxygen machine or its failure due to a power outage.
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Sarasota County Sheriff's Office Spokeswoman Kaitlyn Perez clarified Tuesday afternoon that the initial email she received stated: "Both deaths appear related to oxygen machines not functioning during storm due to power issues."
Upon further review with the Investigations Bureau, since Perez also didn't see any mention of an oxygen tank in the report, it was found that the 911 caller mentions the victim was "losing oxygen." Perez added that detectives did not find an oxygen tank at the scene when they finally were able to arrive.
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Da Rosa's son-in-law, William Deacon, said her death wasn't related to the storm, but rather it occurred as the storm was happening.
He added that since first responders weren't able to get to the home because of the storm, perhaps that was the reason the Sheriff's Office counted it as being storm-related.
Perez explained in an email that in both cases, first responders were unable to help at the time as sustained winds were more than 45 mph and all emergency personnel had to remain sheltered. Once wind speeds decreased, EMS, the fire department and police were able to respond to calls.
"While (the victims) did not die due to the physical weather event, the inability to respond may have changed the outcome in both incidents," Perez said. "We have no way of knowing."
According to the incident report, Da Rosa was visiting her family from Brazil when the storm hit. Deacon told deputies he'd heard his mother-in-law coughing at around 11:41 p.m. Wednesday in her bedroom.
When he went to check on her, Da Rosa was holding her chest and her body was tensing up, the incident report states. Deacon pulled his mother-in-law onto the floor, dialed 911, and started doing CPR for about 20 minutes before stopping.
Hurricane Ian death toll rises to 68
The Florida Medical Examiners Commission on Monday evening announced the death toll in Florida rose to at least 68 people, and of those, three deaths were in Sarasota County.
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However, those deaths did not include either Idzik's or Da Rosa's.
The official recorded hurricane-related deaths, according to commission officials Monday, are a 62-year-old woman who was found trapped in her car and whose probable cause of death was listed as drowning; a 71-year-old man who died from head injuries after falling off his roof Sept. 27 while shuttering windows; and an 80-year-old man who's oxygen pump stopped working because of a power outage.
On Tuesday evening, the death toll climbed to 72 people, with an additional death reported in Sarasota County.
The news release states that the Commission collects information from Florida District Medical Examiners after they complete examinations that confirm the deaths are hurricane-related.
The identities of the four people have not been released and efforts to connect with the twelfth district medical examiner, who oversees Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties, have not been successful.
A receptionist Tuesday said Dr. Russell Vega was in South Sarasota assisting the needs there and wouldn't be back in the office to return calls until next week.
Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota families say 2 deaths not directly related to Hurricane Ian
