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Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Four Louisiana nursing home residents died and hundreds more were rescued after they were sent to a warehouse as Hurricane Ida struck the state. The state said it rescued 721 of the 843 residents sent to the facility from seven nursing homes, all owned by Bob Dean who also owned the warehouse known as Waterbury where the residents were taken.
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It wasn't immediately clear whether the four people who died were found dead at the warehouse or died later.
State Health Officer Joseph Kanter said more than 50 patients had been sent to North Oaks Hospital in the past two days with some arriving covered in urine and feces.
"We don't think they would've died had the storm not happened and they weren't evacuated," he said. "We will be taking action against these nursing facilities and will be making appropriate referrals to law enforcement."
The storm, which made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday has resulted in at least six other deaths in the state, while causing severe flooding and destruction.
A total of 746,000 Entergy customers were without power Thursday as executives for the utility said it planned to complete assessments of damage caused by the storm by Thursday night.
Entergy said crews have identified 837 poles, 288 transformers and 564 crossarms that need to be repaired, estimating that some customers can expect to have their power restored as early as Friday.
A majority of Baton Rouge can also expect to have its power restored by Wednesday, however, Entergy CEO Phillip May said that did not include some of the hardest hit neighboring areas such as Ascension Parish.
President Joe Biden is set to visit Louisiana to survey the damage Friday.
Ida has since made its way to the northeast, inundating the region with rain and resulting in at least two dozen deaths.
