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Forecasters warn that Hurricane Florence might hesitate for days off, punishing a longer stretch of coast, before pushing inland. (September 12)
AP
Marge Brown, 65, bids farewell to her father, George, 90, before being evacuated from a health facility in Morehead City, New Brunswick, on September 12, 2018, as Hurricane Florence approaches from the east coast. "I'd like to stay and see what's going on, I'm over 90," said Brown, a veteran of World War II.(Photo: David Goldman, AP)
WILMINGTON, N.C. – Nursing homes evacuate residents in historical clips or supply stores. Hospitals reinforce staff and closely monitor disaster response plans. Palliative care facilities move to nearby hospitals.
As Hurricane Florence rages against the east coast, health officials and emergency planners prepare hospitals and retirement homes – often the most vulnerable outposts in the event of a disaster – before The arrival of the storm.
In Trinity Grove, a retirement home in Myrtle Grove, employee Pete Nero checked the 750-kilowatt generator of the building. A hundred or so residents will take refuge in the facility located near Masonboro Island, less than three kilometers from the coast.
"We are as prepared as possible," said Nero.
In North Carolina, at least 40 of the state's 130 hospitals are in the direct path of the storm, which is expected to result in high winds of up to 130 mph, torrential rains, and a 13-point storm surge. Carolina Coast North Carolina feet Thursday night until Saturday.
A dozen nursing homes in coastal and eastern counties of the state also began evacuating their homes on Monday.
In South Carolina, retirement home officials made the rare decision to evacuate the 32 retirement homes and assisted living centers of the state's coastal region.
Last year's hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico revealed that hospitals and retirement homes were at the highest risk of disasters. In a Nursing Home in Broward County, Florida, 14 residents died as a result of Hurricane Irma, while hundreds of the approximately 3,000 deaths from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico were due to lack of Health care access.
The average age of evacuating nursing homes in South Carolina is 83 and their commute is risky, said Randy Lee, president of the South Carolina Health Care Association. Residents are transported in ambulances or buses, as well as mattresses and medical supplies, to retirement homes located further inland.
Lee said it was the first time that he knew that so many retirement home residents had been moved from their facilities at once.
"We have residents who have not left the building for 10 years," he said. "It could be very traumatic for them."
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A debate on the opportunity to leave
The debate over the opportunity to relocate frail residents of retirement homes – many afflicted with Alzheimer's, dementia or other illnesses – has exploded nationwide since the beginning. Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when several hundred people died in hospitals or retirement homes
Officials at the state retirement home often dispute whether it is worth evacuating residents in the run-up to a storm that is a category 2 or 3, Lee said. But with a major storm such as Florence, there was not much choice.
"When you get a category 4 or potentially a category 5," said Lee, "it's just not an option to stay in place."
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Despite its proximity to the coast, Trinity Grove in North Carolina has remained open, leaving residents with the difficult choice of evacuating by themselves or staying.
Kay Torrens, 88, and her husband, Leo, 87, have lived in the facility for 25 years. She decided to leave and go through the storm with a relative in Virginia while her husband stayed behind.
She said that she trusted the ability to keep Leo safe, but the threat of Florence was too much for her.
"We had plans to stay here, but floods and rain are the problems," said Kay Torrens. "We'll just see what happens."
Thrive staff in Prince Creek, an assisted living facility located just two miles off Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, took no chances. He began evacuating all 42 seniors, some with dementia and other special medical needs, as well as 23 staff members on Monday morning and moved them 250 miles inland to a sister property in Greer.
The caravan included two large passenger buses, a smaller bus, a truck loaded with supplies and five other vehicles with team members, said Jacque Richardson, president of the facility. It took an hour and a half to load the residents and five and a half hours to complete the trip, she said.
"We opened our war room Monday at 6 am and we were all on the bridge," Richardson said.
Hospitals were in a high state of alert. The seven trauma hospitals in North Carolina have held daily conference calls with emergency service officials since Monday to ensure that contingency plans are in place and supplies for the storm, Bill Gentry said. Director of the Master's Program in Public Health. and management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Medical teams have been deployed in the Goldsboro area to organize a 200-bed mobile hospital, known as the "Medical Assisting Team" or SMAT, to receive patients from hospitals in the area roads, at- he says.
State health authorities have also improved their communication system and disaster plans since the passage of Hurricane Matthew two years ago.
"Floods flood"
The size of Florence – larger than the state of North Carolina – and the combination of strong winds and heavy rains are likely to challenge the best-intentioned plans, Gentry said. North Carolina will probably know what the Houston area did during Harvey when historic floods cut off hospital residents, he added.
"The floods are causing flooding," said Gentry, a former official with the North Carolina Emergency Management Bureau. "Trying to get people from point A to point B with six or seven feet of water on the outside, no matter how good your communication, will be difficult."
A surtax generator stopped working during Matthew, and water was cut from the 440-bed southeastern regional medical center in Lumberton, North Carolina, due to widespread flooding. Hospital staff members were forced to take the necessary steps to evacuate 13 ICU patients and babies from neonatal intensive care units as a result of the storm.
While Florence was heading to the North Carolina coast, the hospital leaders brought in an extra generator, loaded with water, and making sure they had enough staff throughout the weekend, said Joann Anderson, general manager of the hospital.
They also referred patients who were able to leave earlier – a process known as "decompression" – and were in constant contact with local emergency officials, she said.
Nevertheless, hospital staff remain concerned.
"There is a lot of anxiety," Anderson said. "It's certainly stronger, certainly bigger, certainly a lot of uncertainty because of that."
Liv Osby, of Greenville News, contributed to this report.
Follow Jervis on Twitter: @MRRJervis.
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