US police have obtained a search warrant in their criminal investigation of the deaths of eight elderly patients exposed to sweltering heat inside a Miami-area nursing home left with little or no air conditioning after Hurricane Irma struck.
The loss of life in brought the overall death toll from Irma to 82, with several hard-hit Caribbean islands, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, accounting for more than half the fatalities.
One of the latest deaths reported involved cleanup crews finding the body of a man under a pile of seaweed in a boat, local media reported.
The eight deaths at the Rehabilitation Centre at Hollywood Hills, days after Irma struck, heightened concerns about the vulnerability of the state's large elderly population amid widespread power outages.
"It was unnecessary," said Bendetta Craig, whose 87-year-old mother was among dozens of patients safely removed from the centre.
"I don't know what happened inside. I wasn't there. I hope the truth comes out. It is just senseless," she said.
Police have said little about circumstances leading to the deaths of the patients, who ranged in age from 71 to 99.
Medical workers from an adjacent hospital who assisted in evacuating the centre recounted a scene of chaos as panicky staff scrambled to move overheated patients into a room where fans were blowing.
Craig said nursing home staff had assured her before the storm that they were prepared to shelter residents safely through the hurricane and were equipped with generators, food and other necessary supplies.
She questioned whether short staffing and fatigue on the part of overworked personnel may have been factors in the crisis.
The centre, which police sealed off as a crime scene on Wednesday, was officially ordered closed to new admissions by the state's Agency for Health Care Administration.
The facility has had a spotty inspection record.
A state inspection report in February 2016 cited the facility for failing to comply with regulations for emergency generators.
The physician listed in state records as the nursing home's manager, Dr. Jack Michel, was accused by state and federal regulators in 2004 of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid.
He and three co-defendants, including Larkin Community Hospital, paid $US15.4 million ($A19.2 million) to settle those civil claims in 2006 without admitting wrongdoing.
US President Donald Trump visited Gulf Coast Florida communities recovering from the hurricane on Thursday, praising first responders for their role in limiting the loss of life.
"When you think of the incredible power of that storm, and while people unfortunately passed, it was such a small number," Trump said.
