A 9-year-old boy died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning and an 89-year-old man died after touching a downed power line — the latest Florida deaths attributed to Hurricane Matthew.

Jose Barrio, 9, died from what Daytona Beach Police think was carbon monoxide from a generator inside the boy's home.

According to home's landlord, the generator was inside a bedroom in which the boy slept.

Elizabeth Calderon, who lives next door, said Jose and his three family members weathered Hurricane Mathew inside her home because a tree fell on Jose’s home. But after the coast was clear, she said they returned to the home they had rented for almost 15 years.

“I didn’t even know that they had a generator inside,” Calderon said.

Neither did the landlord who said he was helping the family clean up until 7 Sunday night.

But sometime around 11 a.m. Monday, Jose’s mother, Matilde Hernandez, called 911 to report her family was sick and that Jose was unresponsive.

When they arrived, Jose was dead, they think a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning from the generator. The door was closed and sealed, trapping all the carbon monoxide fumes inside.


Jose Barrio, 9, died after his Daytona Beach family was overcome by carbon monoxide because of a generator inside their house, Daytona Beach Police said Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. (Saul Saenz, staff)

Calderon said Jose lived with his younger brother, mother and stepfather.

Police said all three showed signs of being exposed to the tasteless, odorless gas and were taken to a hospital. The fumes were so powerful that officers were overcome but are expected to be OK.

“I think what saved the other three family members is that the generator ran out of gas,” Deputy Police Chief Craig Capri said.

Calderon said Jose would often come over to her house to play with her 6-year-old son. She said explaining Jose’s death to him will not come easy.

“I don’t even know how I’m going to explain to him that he’s not going to come over anymore,” Calderon said.

Jose’s mother and brother are expected to be OK, according to Capri. The stepfather, who has not been identified, is in stable condition but it's not clear whether he will survive.


A power generator inside the bedroom of a Daytona Beach home is suspected in the death of 9-year-old Jose Barrio. (Saul Saenz, staff)

Other deaths across state

Elsewhere in Volusia County, Marshall Bailey, 89, of DeLeon Springs was found dead on the ground Monday morning outside a home on the 6000 block of State Road 11, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.

The downed power line was pulled to the ground by a falling tree and was reported to the Sheriff's Office just before 8 a.m. Less than 10 minutes later, deputies received a second call about a man found dead on the ground near the wire, with small flames nearby.

On Monday, Orange County officials confirmed that Barbara Dennis, 70, died Friday after a medical device failed during a power outage from Hurricane Matthew. In total, the deaths of at least seven Floridians have been attributed to the powerful storm.

A memeber of a tree-removal crew was killed Monday while removing Hurricane Matthew debris near the Volusia-Flagler line, deputies said. 

The path of the storm left destruction and death across Haiti, where death totals vary but are in the multiple hundreds, and other places before hitting Florida as a Category 3 hurricane Friday. 

Gov. Scott tours Flagler

Rep. John Mica sat down with Flagler Beach officials Monday morning to start getting an idea of the work that needed to be done on State Road A1A in Flagler County, long stretches of which were washed away Friday. Mica said that because A1A is an evacuation route and a U.S. highway, federal funding will be available.

"It is very important. If it was a local road, it would be tougher. But the federal government works on interstates and has emergency funds for roads that have U.S. designations under what's called 'Title 23,' " Mica said.

Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Olsen said that work was already being planned for the roadway before the storm damaged it, which may speed up the repair process.

"We had a project in the works, but we are going to have to, of course, expand that project," Olsen said.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, along with Mica, surveyed the damage in Flagler during a tour Monday.

"This whole group is working together to get this done. I think this is the biggest transportation issue we have right now in this state," Scott said.

Matthew also made a deadly impact on North Carolina, where at least 10 people have died, most from being washed off roads in vehicles. Authorities are still searching for several others.

But back in Florida, many have started cleanup operations to their homes and businesses. The severe damage to many homes is not reparable.

Johnene Herrold, a Volusia County resident of Tanglewood Mobile Estates, has seen her home of 25 years in her lawn after the garage caved in and the roof blew off.

In a statement, Scott announced that the federal government has approved portions of his request for a major disaster declaration for the state.

"The approved declaration covers debris removal and emergency protective measures in eight counties including Duval, Flagler, Brevard, Nassau, Volusia, Indian River, St. Johns and St. Lucie," according to the statement. "At this time, funding has not been approved for individual assistance or for permanent work to government buildings, roads and parks."

Florida disaster funds

The governor activated the Florida Disaster Fund to support individuals who are impacted by the hurricane. The fund is designed to give financial support to communities in times of disaster.

The governor also activated Florida's Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program to help small businesses impacted by Matthew. The program is supposed to provide short-term, interest-free loans to small businesses that had either physical or economic damage during the storm and recovery efforts. Small business owners can apply for the loan until Nov. 11.

All evacuation orders have been lifted. Currently, there are seven shelters open in Florida, with more than 120 people in them. This includes four special-needs shelters in which 36 people are still residing.

A curfew is still in place on Flagler's barrier island, which includes Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach, Hammock and Marineland.

All courthouses in Flagler, St. Johns and Volusia counties will reopen tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 11. All court deadlines will be extended and all scheduled court hearings will be rescheduled when court resumes.

Tolls have been reinstated on toll roads and all airports are open, but the governor's office suggested to contact the airport directly to make sure there are no flight or operation delays.

Beaches also took a pounding from Matthew. In Brevard County, dozens of people showed up at Lori Wilson Park with buckets and grabbers in hand to clean up along the shore. But they said even more cleanup will be necessary later in the week.

Many schools in various counties are open on Monday, but others are closed due to Matthew.

Volusia County Public Schools are closed Monday and Tuesday because some schools still need power restored, leaks repaired and classrooms cleaned.

Flalger County will also have no school Tuesday. Brevard public school students will return to class Tuesday.