First storm-related death reported in Florida
A St. Lucie County woman died after emergency crews, halted by Hurricane Matthew, weren’t able to reach her.
As first reported by WPTV, the 58-year-old woman had a heart attack and called for help around 1:20 a.m.
That came a little over an hour after gusts of 68 mph wind forced St. Lucie County Fire District to stop responding to emergencies, district spokeswoman Catherine Chaney told the Miami Herald.
“It’s just not safe for them to be on the road in those high winds,” she said.
Fire District has stopped emergency responses due to the wind... will resume as soon as conditions are safe for fire district personnel.
— StLucieFireDistrict (@StLucieFireDist) October 7, 2016
Chaney said under FEMA rules, the district considers this a storm-related death because they could not respond to her call. The woman was an unincorporated area of the county, where there were not mandatory evacuations. She was with a group of people at the time of her death, Chaney said.
Alex Harris: 305-376-5005, @harrisalexc
This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 11:25 AM with the headline "First storm-related death reported in Florida."