TAMPA, Fla. — The grief of losing a loved one has been compounded across the state of Florida as one family came to us with their story of frustration.
"We were so shocked. She's 54 years old, and we expected her to come home," Barbara Sokol told me Tuesday.
Barbara was talking about her daughter, Tasha Sheff. She underwent surgery to replace a valve in her heart. Doctors told the family the surgery had a 2% risk of complications.
But on July 1, Tasha died due to complications after the surgery.
"They had to work and find the bleed," Barbara said. "And then the doctor had to take her heart in his hand and pump her heart. And she died."
The death was hard enough for Barbara and her son, Peter Sheff. Then, they found out about a state-wide issue that has made finding closure nearly impossible.
"We didn't really know that there was an issue until we met with a funeral director," Barbara said.
The issue centers around the Florida Department of Health's Office of Vital Statistics, which processes death certificates. There is currently a system-wide shutdown by the state agency. It's forced funeral directors like T.J. Cohen to ask for something not seen since the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic: mobile morgues.
"It's extremely stressful for the funeral homes and devastating to the families," Cohen said. "We thought maybe it was just a glitch, but then they were telling us it was a hack. It was like, 'Oh my God, how can we go through this again."
The state of Florida has not confirmed to us that any system was hacked. A funeral director gave us emails that the Department of Health sent out statewide, talking about what was initially described as system maintenance.
Two days later, more emails reported a server issue, which has still not been fixed. The message tells funeral directors to certify the death certificates manually.
Kenan Knopke, owner of Curlew Hills Memory Gardens, said fax machines are helping, but the situation is like going back in time.
"It's put everyone back 20 or 30 years for those of that are that old, for those that old it's like what's going on it's like waking up the next morning and not having a cell phone, and you have to do it the way your parents did it," Knopke said.
The problems have funeral homes warning families that it could take up to three weeks for some things to be processed.
"We used to tell them (families), 7-10 days. We are up to 14-21 business days," said Knopke. "My gut feeling tells me this is going to be a while, and there will be another round of ways to do it to get people what they need to do business."
For Tasha's family and other families dealing with the loss of a loved one across Florida, it's making finding closure even more difficult.
"We can't close out anything in her life, not her apartment, not her car, anything," Barbara said. "We can't do anything right now to bring closure and spread her ashes in Alaska. It's very hurtful."
Tasha's brother Peter said the issues add to the sadness of families who are already dealing with a huge loss.
"I can guarantee you any family to think of their loved on in a cooler for who knows how long is feeling that same heartbreak," Peter said.
ABC Action News emailed the State Department of Health, Hillsborough County Department of Health, Pinellas County Department of Health, and Pasco County Department of Health for a statement or comment on what happened and the impact it's having on families across the state. As of Tuesday evening, they have not responded.
Hurricane Milton is expected to rapidly intensify to a Category 4 storm by the end of tomorrow.
