Hurricane Ian strikes Florida hospital as storm leaves over 2 million people without power
Hurricane Ian sparked flooding which swamped the hospital’s emergency room that is on the lower level and strong winds tore off a portion of the roof
As powerful Hurricane Ian lashes over Florida and left over 2 million people without power, the storm struck a hospital from above and below. As per a doctor who works in Florida hospital, Ian sparked flooding which swamped the hospital’s emergency room that is on the lower level and strong winds tore off a portion of the roof over its critical care unit on the fourth story.
Furthermore, the hospital’s sickest patients, some of whom were on ventilators, were evacuated to different floors when water poured down from above onto the ICU. In an effort to clean up the soggy mess, staff workers grabbed towels and plastic containers, Associated Press reported.
The medium-sized hospital, HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte, has four floors, however, due to the damage, patients were restricted to just two.
Dr. Birgit Bodine, who spent a night at the hospital, said she expected that the hurricane would make things busy. However, she added, “We didn’t anticipate that the roof would blow off on the fourth floor”. She even intends to stay an additional night in the hospital since potential storm injuries might exacerbate the situation.
According to the Associated Press report, Bodine stated, “The ambulances may be coming soon and we don’t know where to put them in the hospital at this point”. Describing the reason, she said, “Because we’re doubled and tripled up.” Bodine claimed that despite the influx, patients have generally been understanding and positive.
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Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida on Thursday
In the meantime, extremely violent Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida on Thursday, destroying homes, uprooting trees, and flipping cars along the shore at Cayo Costa. Ian quickly reached category 5 storm classification and became “extremely dangerous” with gusts of wind up to 155 mph. As Hurricane Ian battered Florida with torrential rains and an unprecedented surge of up to 18 feet, it flooded the state’s roadways and coastal communities.
Furthermore, Air Force hurricane hunters revealed that after tearing apart the island of Cuba and destroying the nation’s electricity grid, which rendered the whole island completely black, Hurricane Ian grew to horrific intensity over warm Gulf of Mexico water. Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida, issued a warning that it would be “a nasty nasty day, two days” as Ian was centered approximately 60 miles to the west-southwest of Naples. He emphasised that individuals who are in the hurricane’s path should go as quickly as they can to the safest available refuge since the storm is predicted to bring unprecedented havoc.
(Image: AP)
