Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
18 die in India hospital when flooding knocks out power
NEW DELHI — Severe flooding in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu killed 18 hospital patients when rainwater knocked out generators and switched off ventilators, officials said Saturday.
State authorities were investigating complaints of negligence by officials at MIOT International hospital in the state capital, Chennai, which is reeling from floods.
The 18 patients were in the intensive-care unit when a power failure affected ventilators in the hospital, leading to the deaths late last week, said state Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan.
He said floodwaters entered the room with the generators, cutting off power to the building and switching off the ventilators.
More than 280 people have died from the flooding in Chennai, a city of 9.6 million, and nearby districts, including several who were killed by electric shocks from power distribution boxes that had been submerged by floodwaters. Authorities have turned off power in some areas to prevent accidental deaths.
Army soldiers using boats have rescued thousands of residents marooned in highrise buildings and initiated relief operations to provide food and medicine.
Although floodwaters have begun to recede, areas of Chennai and neighboring districts were still 8 feet to 10 feet under water, with tens of thousands of people in staterun relief camps.
As officials struggled to supply drinking water and food, people were complaining that relief had not yet reached several neighborhoods, four days after they were marooned or stranded on rooftops. With no electricity for more than four days, they had no way to charge cellphones, they said.
“We feel quite helpless,” said Malti Soman, standing in knee-deep water in Mambalam, a residential area in central Chennai. “The landline phones are not working. And my cellphone is dead because there is no electricity to charge it.”
Radhakrishnan said Saturday that while the immediate rescue operations were tapering off, the main focus of the government will be to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.
In many areas, sewage drains have overflowed as floodwaters rise, posing a health hazard for residents who have had to wade through the water, Radhakrishnan said.
“This is a concern,” he said. “We are working with the local water and sewage agencies to disinfect the worst-hit areas.”
Sanitation workers have begun spraying insecticide in many places to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue as standing water stagnates.
Chennai’s airport was closed for a fourth day Saturday, although some flights operated from a nearby air force base.
Railway service resumed partially, with a few trains running from Chennai’s main station.
India’s main monsoon season runs from June through September, but for Chennai and the rest of the southeastern coast, the heaviest rainfall is from October to December, also called the retreating monsoon.
This year’s deluge — which experts linked to the El Nino weather pattern, when the waters of the Pacific Ocean get warmer than usual — caught Chennai unprepared.