Overwhelmed medical examiners grapple with grim task after Hurricane Ian
Overwhelmed by bodies to autopsy and thrown into a political debate over precisely how many lives the storm has claimed, medical examiners face huge challenges.
In the wake of Hurricane Ian, the living have struggled to account for all the dead.
Overwhelmed by the number of bodies to autopsy and thrown into a political debate over precisely how many lives the storm has claimed, many medical examiners in the hardest-hit parts of Florida face extraordinary challenges in accounting for all of the storm’s victims.
In Charlotte County, the longtime chief medical examiner was three days from retirement with no permanent replacement chosen yet when Ian hit on Sept. 28.
Why was Hurricane Ian so deadly?Oct. 6, 202201:49With many roads still flooded and impassable, in stepped Dr. Russell Vega, the chief medical examiner in neighboring Sarasota County, who had already been helping Charlotte County during its leadership transition.
Vega arrived last Saturday, three days after the storm made landfall, to find that the office already had twice as many bodies as it was built to handle.
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