Hospitals Facing Water Shortages Post Winter Storm

The Southern part of the USA was hit severely with the winter storms causing a lot of destruction. While people are trying to recover from the disastrous event, the weather is now good. But now, many hospitals across the south are complaining of water shortages after the winter storm.

During the winter storms earlier this month, hospitals had to stay back to look after the patients amidst the record high cold temperature.

Hospitals Facing Water Shortages Post Winter Storm

The storm that brought extreme cold weather has blasted water mains, has resulted in power outages to millions of consumers and was even proved fatal to many.

It is reported that at least 76 people died, mostly in Texas alone, due to thunderstorms. Tennessee reported seven people’s death while four died in Portland, Oregon, during the winter storms. 

Both power supply and water are lost in a rural hospital in Anahuac, Texas. The hospital is located about 50 miles east of Houston. 

The Chambers Health CEO, William Kiefer, runs this hospital along with two other clinics and one wellness centre. He said that the water is restored from a 270-gallon storage tank to revive the facility and had to rely on backup generators for electricity. He said that they needed to be meet the need for water by refilling the wellness centre tanks from the swimming pool. 

Kiefer said that some people cannot manage to rush to their hospitals, where the care and treatment are being received due to the ice and snow.

He dictated a recent incident of a pregnant woman who was rushed to the facility as she could not make it to the hospital in Houston. He said that the baby was delivered safely by the staff.

According to Kiefer, the situation is so gloomy that if the facility was not there, then the woman had to deliver the baby in the car itself amidst the snow, which would have been terrible.

With the system installations on Thursday, life was back to normal on Sunday, as per his statement. He said that looking at the severe and unavoidable troubles after this year’s storm and cold weather conditions, more sophisticated backup plans and systems are required in the health care facility. 

Gale Smith is a spokeswoman for the Huston Methodist hospital. She said that the water supply has been restored after the storm in at least two of the system’s community hospitals. She added that due to many hospitals’ water supply issues, dialysis patients are rushing to the hospital as many local centers are closed. 

With the temperatures coming to normal this weekend and reaching an average of about 18 degrees Celsius, hundreds of cars are still lined up at the NRG stadium.

People are lined up at the place to receive water and food from the Food Bank in Houston. The bank is known to supply food and water to many vulnerable people, including senior citizens and disabled ones.

A boil water advisory was announced in Tennessee on Thursday with the fear that the low water supply can lead to contamination. The old pipe systems and the rupture of water mains is the main culprit behind the issue. The officials are still not sure if the advisory will be lifted this week or not. 

The advisory had affected more than 2.5 million homes. Apart from that, hospitals and nursing homes are facing major issues with the advisory.

They had to turn to bottled water to meet the water demand. Many other hospitals in the South USA are trying to stockpile water to be used later if the advisory persists for a long period. 

But with the improving weather conditions, things are now recovering, power and water supply are being tested and restored.