Hospitals confront water shortages in cold snap aftermath
Health systems scramble to care for patients amid burst pipes, power woes
Hospitals across the U.S. South grappled with water shortages Sunday as the region carried on with recovery efforts in the wake of a devastating winter storm, and the weather offered a balmy respite — temperatures as high as 18 C.
At the height of the storm, hospitals were left scrambling to care for patients amid record cold, snow and ice that battered parts of the country more accustomed to going through winter with light jackets and short sleeves. The icy blast ruptured water mains, knocked out power to millions of utility customers and contributed to at least 76 deaths — half of which occurred in Texas. At least seven people died in Tennessee and four in Portland, Ore.
A rural hospital in Anahuac, Texas, about 80 kilometres east of Houston, lost both water and power.
William Kiefer, CEO of Chambers Health, which runs the hospital along with two clinics and a wellness centre, said the facilities resorted to backup generators and water from a 1,000-litre storage tank. They refilled it three times using water from a swimming pool in the wellness centre.
On Monday, a woman about to give birth walked into the hospital after she could not make it through the ice and snow to her hospital in suburban Houston. Emergency room staff delivered the baby safely, Kiefer said.
Water was restored Thursday, and operations had returned to normal on Sunday, he said. The health system plans to look into installing more sophisticated backup systems, he said.
After temperatures plunged below normal last week, the forecast for the Houston area called for a high of 18 C on Sunday. The city lifted its boil-water advisory on Sunday afternoon. Still, hundreds of cars lined up at NRG Stadium to receive food and water from the Houston Food Bank. The bank also delivered supplies to vulnerable citizens, including seniors and the disabled.
Memphis, Tennessee, saw 10 inches of snow last week. Memphis, Light, Gas & Water issued a boil-water advisory on Thursday out of concern that low water pressure caused by problems at aging pumping stations and water main ruptures could lead to contamination. The advisory was still in place Sunday; utility officials said they did not know when they might lift it.
About 260,000 homes and businesses were under the advisory. Hospitals and nursing homes have been forced to switch to bottled water. The Tennessee National Guard was supplying St. Francis Hospital with water.
Flights resumed Saturday at Memphis International Airport after everything was grounded Friday because of water pressure problems.
The White House said about a third of the COVID-19 vaccine doses delayed by the storm were delivered over the weekend. The weather created a backlog of about six million doses as power outages closed some vaccination centres and icy weather stranded vaccine in shipping hubs.