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Another Hollywood nursing home resident dies. It's the 9th in post-Irma tragedy.

 
Carlos Canal, pictured at 47 years old, came to Miami from Cuba in 1960. Above is his citizenship photo. [Courtesy of Lily Schwartz]
Carlos Canal, pictured at 47 years old, came to Miami from Cuba in 1960. Above is his citizenship photo. [Courtesy of Lily Schwartz]
Published Sept. 20, 2017

The Broward County Medical Examiner's office is investigating another death of a resident of the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills — the ninth blamed on the failure of a cooling system that became a stifling deathtrap three days after Irma hit.

Dr. Craig Mallak confirmed the death of Carlos Canal, 93, which occurred Tuesday morning. An autopsy will be conducted Wednesday.

Hollywood police sent out a news release Tuesday night saying Canal is considered the ninth death related to the nursing home meltdown.

According to Canal's daughter, Lily Schwartz, he died of pneumonia with a 105 degree fever. Canal was one of the more than 100 people evacuated from the rehabilitation center after the cooling system failed. She said he was evacuated about the same time as the others and originally taken to Memorial Regional Hospital across from the center, before being transferred to Pembroke Memorial and then to the hospice unit at Hollywood Memorial South, where he died.

After he was evacuated, a doctor called and said he was stable and receiving medicine, Schwartz said. But over the next few days his condition worsened, she said.

She called from Austin to check on her father the Friday before the storm, she said, and a receptionist told her the hospital was ready for the storm. Schwartz said her father was having issues hearing and she relied on nurses to tell her how he was. They had told her before the storm he was fine.

"Then, after the storm, I couldn't get through," she said.

He father emigrated to Miami from Cuba in 1960, she said. He came over first, and Schwartz, her mother and two brothers came soon after. He hoped to build a safer life for them, working at Borden Daily while trying to start businesses. She said he was an aspiring entrepreneur.

"That is one thing that I will always be thankful for," she said.

Miami Herald staff writer Julie K. Brown contributed to this report.