Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Hospital Lifelines
Publication: TCLEE 2009: Lifeline Earthquake Engineering in a Multihazard Environment
Abstract
The hurricane winds had only a minor direct impact on hospital facilities. However, the subsequent flood severely impacted most of the hospital facilities investigated. Many facilities completely evacuated patients and staff, and the family members of patients and staff that had taken shelter in the facilities before the hurricane arrived. The evacuations were necessary because the flood caused the loss of emergency power, safe domestic water, and the ability to remove waste water from the facilities. Many facilities had electrical power equipment, pumps, compressors and critical medical equipment that were located in flooded areas, such as basements or street level floors. Other non-flooded facilities had to evacuate people and terminate their functions because of loss of the water supply. Some evacuations were necessitated by concerns regarding the security of personnel in the facilities.
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Copyright
© 2009 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Apr 26, 2012
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Buildings
- Disaster preparedness
- Disaster risk management
- Disasters and hazards
- Electrical equipment
- Energy engineering
- Energy sources (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Equipment and machinery
- Evacuation
- Facilities (by type)
- Floods
- Health care facilities
- Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones
- Hydro power
- Infrastructure
- Lifeline systems
- Natural disasters
- Renewable energy
- Structural engineering
- Structures (by type)
- Water and water resources
- Water management
- Water supply
- Water supply systems
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