"Hurricane Ida Forces Three Damaged Hospitals To Evacuate Patients"

"Hospitals in Southeast Louisiana, already burdened with extremely high numbers of covid patients, took a beating from Hurricane Ida, with roofs ripped off or damaged, leaving water pouring inside and forcing three bayou-country hospitals ravaged by the eye of the storm to evacuate their patients. Patients at a fourth hospital were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Information on deaths and injuries from Ida remained unclear Monday, with power out, cellphone communication limited, roads impassable, and search-and-rescue missions still ongoing.

Sixty-five patients from St. Anne Hospital in Raceland and Chabert Medical Center in Houma were evacuated early Monday, although the emergency rooms will remain open at both hospitals, officials at Ochsner Health told reporters in a morning news briefing. Terrebonne General, an Ochsner partner facility in Houma, asked for help evacuating 100 patients, the officials said. The patients are being sent to other hospitals in southern Louisiana."

Joel Achenbach, Akilah Johnson, and Jacqueline Dupree report for the Washington Post August 30, 2021.

SEE ALSO:

"Ida Carves Path Of Destruction Across Louisiana, Leaves Low-Lying Towns Stranded" (Reuters)

"New Orleans Avoids Major Flooding Thanks To Levees Built After Katrina" (Reuters)

"Louisiana Hospitals Avoid Ida Catastrophe, But Staffing Challenges Loom" (Reuters)

"Hurricane Ida Exposes Grid Weaknesses as New Orleans Goes Dark" (New York Times)

"In Ida’s Grip, Louisiana Struggles to Assess the Damage" (New York Times)

"Ida Hit One of the Country’s Biggest Oil and Chemical Hubs" (New York Times)

"New Orleans Levees Pass Ida’s Test While Some Suburbs Flood" (AP)

"Thousands Face Weeks Without Power In Ida’s Aftermath" (AP)

"Ida Inundates Areas Around New Orleans While Sparing City" (AP)

Source: Washington Post, 08/31/2021