I'm really nervous about the aftermath of this storm on our medical infrastructure. I'm in Houston and our hospital situation is very bad here and I know it's no better in any of the areas surrounding Ida's path. I'm worried about what this will mean for the people in it's path and the further overcrowding of our hospitals. I'm angry that we've put ourselves in this position of not having enough space or resources to help people who will desperately need it in the coming days and weeks.
Yeah. Eric Berger with Space City Weather posted that Houston will care for our neighbors in LA just like we did after Katrina, Laura and other hurricanes.
***TW*** COVID CARE and POST-DISASTER CARE FAILURE*** TW***
Except when Katrina hit, we pulled staff from TMC hospitals and set them up in the Astrodome to care for Katrina evacuees.
Right now, my hospital system has ~300 patients holding for beds in the EDs because the hospitals are saturated. One location, in a densely republican part of town, has 100 ED holds right now, >30 are covid positive.
At another hospital, I literally have one HS friend whose husband fighting for his life from covid (going on dialysis now and already on a vent), and another friend's spouse is in the ED of the same hospital trying to get care for his chronic lung disease unrelated to covid. The second one is vaxxed. Based on what i know of the first one, he probably isn't. Both men are in their 40s and are declining rapidly. And one is waiting for a bed that will likely free up when someone dies.
There is NO ROOM in any of our hospitals for excess care. We are having to bring in an unprecedented number of travelers to care for the patients we already have. Where will we put Ida victims?
East Texas hospitals are reportedly dealing with the same thing. So they aren't going to be much help.
I'm at my wit's end emotionally over this right now.
I have a dumb, awful question that I’m probably a bad person for even thinking. Is triage only pre-admission? Or if there’s a shortage of beds and Guy1 is occupying it and unlikely to make it, and Guy2 is declining but still has a chance, will they discharge Guy1 to make room for Guy2?
Michelle, I'm really sorry Michelle. I know the Memorial Hermann near me has been using the medical buses typically used for mass casualties to transfer patients for at least a week now. And now the legislature is mandating that visitors be permitted at hospitals beginning 9/1, so nurses and staff will have to deal with that starting tomorrow, too.
Thinking of you guys. Can we help? I am just so sorry.
Thank you! I appreciate the offer but we’re good. We have resources and my H has such job security. Wish we could have stayed out of the city longer but he has to be there.
share.memebox.com/x/uKhKaZmemebox referal code for 20% off! DD1 "J" born 3/2003 DD2 "G" born 4/2011 DS is here! "H" born 2/2014 m/c#3 1-13-13 @ 9 weeks m/c#2 11-11-12 @ 5w2d I am an extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering, baby wearing, pro marriage equality, birth control lovin', Catholic mama.
I am so sorry. The pictures are just horrible. Sending you guys lots of good thoughts. I’m so glad you have resources but take care of yourself and ask for help if you need it.
Hugs, Mofongo. This is the way I felt after Hurricane Sandy, but it gets better.
If anyone wants to donate, here are a bunch of places that are helping (I scraped this from a NYTimes article yesterday, which had even more recommendations).
The remnants are making their way through New Jersey and New York City areas. Lots of flooding. My mom lives close to NYC - her basement is flooded (but receding) and many streets in town are flooded.
raangoli, you guys ok? I saw a Twitter video from your general area. I had a text written out to you but I realized it’s almost midnight so I didn’t want to wake you if you’re in bed already.
Post by goldengirlz on Sept 1, 2021 22:38:36 GMT -5
New Yorkers and New Jersey(ites?), check in and let us know you’re okay!
My family is all safe, just LOTS of flooding, but they’re sharing some insane images of what’s going on there. Things like cars covered, water gushing into the subway and Newark Airport, rain pouring into basements and fireplaces. They’re saying it seems worse than Sandy.
ETA: First Flash Flood Emergency in the city’s history! And New Jersey got tornadoes!
Post by Velar Fricative on Sept 2, 2021 5:42:11 GMT -5
I’m in the Poconos area in PA this week. Holy shit, I cannot believe I woke up to an alert that 8 people died in the NYC area. My mother was working at the hospital last night and had to stay overnight.
Ida came through here yesterday too but just nonstop rain all day, no huge downpours or significant wind. Figured this is what NYC would see too. Now I’m nervous about my house so I’ll text my neighbor.
ETA: Our block is fine. No flooding at all. We’ve never had any (we have longtime residents on the block), but you never know with something like this.
I cannot believe the trail of destruction Ida continues to leave in her path! Wow. Flash flooding in NYC? All the tornadoes? So crazy. Hope everyone is safe.
I cannot believe the trail of destruction Ida continues to leave in her path! Wow. Flash flooding in NYC? All the tornadoes? So crazy. Hope everyone is safe.
We got destroyed. We were supposed to go to work today, and the building is flooded. The entire subway system got shut down. The ENTIRE thing.
I cannot believe the trail of destruction Ida continues to leave in her path! Wow. Flash flooding in NYC? All the tornadoes? So crazy. Hope everyone is safe.
I was (and still am) so worried about states down south that I wasn’t thinking this could happen up here. It’s crazy. We’ve been away since Monday so I’m not sure how much local notice people got though.
I cannot believe the trail of destruction Ida continues to leave in her path! Wow. Flash flooding in NYC? All the tornadoes? So crazy. Hope everyone is safe.
We got destroyed. We were supposed to go to work today, and the building is flooded. The entire subway system got shut down. The ENTIRE thing.
We were watching the news last night and my jaw just dropped. Y’all absolutely aren’t equipped for that kind of rain. I hope you guys are up and running again soon.
The flooding is just devastating in my area (southeastern PA). We got a little bit of water in the unfinished part of our basement but nothing crazy and it’s already mostly dry. We had to drain off our pool three times last night and this morning. But some of the towns around us are just destroyed. People are being rescued by boat from the second story of their homes. Schools all around are closed today because of flooding and damage. Flash flooding was wild in my neighborhood. So many homes were flooded...I have never seen anything like this. Not even Floyd was this bad.
SE PA got hammered. A tornado was on the ground less than a mile from me (Philadelphia) and people's homes were destroyed. I've never seen anything like this.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
SE PA got hammered. A tornado was on the ground less than a mile from me (Philadelphia) and people's homes were destroyed. I've never seen anything like this.
I think we were up to 8 tornadoes last night? I am in Bucks and my neighborhood was hit only a month ago and were back in my flooded fucking basement last night with trees down everywhere.
My parents are in Warrington and they were hit. Their house only has siding and some roofing off but you can't get in or out of their neighborhood yet.
Also, our kids' was canceled today because of the tornadoes and flooding. Absolutely fucking insane.
I also had a T1 (?) tornado about a mile from me - a friend posted a bunch of tornado damage on his street right near where it touched down before hopping the expressway and taking part of the roof off the high school in my neighboring school district.
Thankfully our house is high despite being near a creek, and our sump pump has backup power. But we’ve been out of power for 26 hours now - I went into my husband’s office today to work. Can’t wait to clean out the fridge. :/
I work for the power company in New Orleans and my heart is just breaking. These workers are flooding in from all over to help in this heat and we have no lodging or food to give them because the city was totally black. Trying to get transmission and generation going has been a nightmare. And the guys trying to fix shit are resorting to sleeping in their trucks and eating what little they can find.
And I can’t think about my personal stuff because that’s just too much for my brain now. And we may not have power for a month.
Post by aprilsails on Sept 2, 2021 20:07:29 GMT -5
dancelnow I am so sorry for everything you are going through. I know that you are doing incredibly difficult work right now and I’m certain your world feels as though it has completely come apart.
I really hope things start to improve and come together for everyone in New Orleans. I am trying to be hopeful considering how many people are out there helping.
I work for the power company in New Orleans and my heart is just breaking. These workers are flooding in from all over to help in this heat and we have no lodging or food to give them because the city was totally black. Trying to get transmission and generation going has been a nightmare. And the guys trying to fix shit are resorting to sleeping in their trucks and eating what little they can find.
And I can’t think about my personal stuff because that’s just too much for my brain now. And we may not have power for a month.
I appreciate you!! I’m so sorry for the conditions. In a strange twist of events Nola has potable water and Jefferson does not. It would be nice if they could get power in a hotel in Nola so they could have somewhere safe to stay. I am so sorry to hear the conditions they are in:( And people are SO anxious to get their power. Granted I have a whole house generator and means to leave if I need, but a lot of people don’t:( This is an unimaginable situation.
Did you see how they had to make the decision to dump all of the raw sewage into the river? I started days ago and was still happening as of this evening. I think it’s getting better. But in Jefferson we’ve been asked to flush/shower as little as possible.
I did. We were talking about that one a lot. They are at the top of our list to get back on, but if the power isn’t there, *sigh*. It’s amazing how much modern life relies on power.
So my boss is new to New Orleans, but comes from Miami so not new to hurricanes at all. He’s just been shocked by what post-hurricane New Orleans is like. Apparently in Miami, even the criminals calm down after it passes. Here the crazy ramps up. Our guys have been witnessing murders, had a knife pulled on them, all sorts of nonsense. They now have armed patrols rolling with them in some areas.