HOUSTON (AP) – Southern hospitals suffered water shortages Sunday following a devastating winter storm as the region continued its recovery efforts and the weather offered a gentle respite, temperatures to medium of the 60s.
In the midst of last week’s storm, hospitals rushed to treat patients amid cold temperatures, snow and ice that plagued areas of the country most accustomed to spending the winter in light jackets and short sleeves. The icy explosion shattered the water network, destroyed energy to millions of utility customers and contributed to at least 76 deaths, half of which occurred in Texas. At least seven people died in Tennessee and four in Portland, Oregon.
A rural hospital in Anahuac, Texas, about 80 miles east of Houston, lost water and electricity.
William Kiefer, general manager of Chambers Health, which runs the hospital along with two clinics and a wellness center, said the facilities used secondary generators and water from a 275-gallon storage tank. . They refilled it three times with water from a wellness center pool.
Last Monday, when the temperature was teenage, a woman about to give birth entered the hospital after she was unable to get through the ice and snow to her Houston suburban hospital. Emergency personnel delivered the baby safely, Kiefer said.
“It would have taken two more hours to get to (Houston suburban hospital) if our facilities weren’t there,” he said. “We can probably assume that he would have had the baby in the car and in the snow. It’s not a good situation. “
Water was restored on Thursday and operations had returned to normal on Sunday, he said. The health system plans to study the installation of more sophisticated backup systems, he said.
Houston Methodist Hospital spokeswoman Gale Smith said water had been restored at two community hospitals in the system, which treated an influx of dialysis patients after their local centers closed, she added.
After temperatures plummeted up to 40 degrees below normal last week, the forecast for the Houston area demanded highs of 65 degrees (18 degrees Celsius) on Sunday. On Sunday afternoon, the city lifted the boiling water warning.
About 30,000 jeans still had no electricity due to downed power lines and other equipment failures. Gov. Greg Abbott said during a press conference that he hoped the entire service would be restored on Sunday night or Monday.
Abbott also said he was concerned about the threat of massive power bills after wholesale energy prices skyrocketed while power plants were offline. He said it would be the “top priority” for the legislature and vowed not to end the legislative session until lawmakers ensure the state’s power grid adapts to extreme winter and summer weather conditions.
According to PowerOutage.us, a website that tracks power outages, nearly 230,000 customers in the south still had no power on Sunday. Other major blackouts occurred in Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky and Oregon.
Memphis, Tennessee, saw 10 inches of snow last week. Memphis, Light, Gas & Water issued a notice on boiling water on Thursday, worried that low water pressure caused by problems at aging pumping stations and major water breakdowns could cause pollution. The notice was still in effect Sunday; public officials said they did not know when they could lift him.
About 260,000 homes and businesses were under counseling. Hospitals and nursing homes have been forced to change bottled water. The Tennessee National Guard supplied water to St. John’s Hospital. Francis.
The nearby Baptist Memorial Hospital cared for some of St. Francis’ patients, especially those in need of dialysis, said Dr. Jeff Wright, Baptist’s lung and critical care physician. This hospital has a water purification system for dialysis and has water reserves for tasks such as cooking and bathing patients, he said.
“We have gallon water jugs that were already stocked and ready to roll the first day,” Wright said.
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare also reported problems at some of its facilities in the Memphis area due to water pressure and boiling warning problems. The system uses tanker trucks to increase water pressure and relies on the help of facilities that have not been affected.
City officials planned to distribute water bottles to various locations on Sunday. Grocery stores struggled to keep the shelves with bottled water. Many restaurants remained closed.
In Washington, the White House said about a third of the COVID-19 vaccine doses delayed by the storm were delivered over the weekend.
The climate generated an accumulation of about 6 million doses, as power outages closed some vaccination centers and the vaccine stuck in the icy climate at the expedition centers. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told ABC on “This Week” that about 2 million of those doses have been shut down.
President Joe Biden is eager to visit Texas, which was especially affected by the weather, Psaki said. Biden expects to travel to the state this week, but “doesn’t want to draw resources” from the response, he said. Biden declared a major disaster in Texas on Saturday.
“He is … very aware that it is not a small imprint for a president to travel to a disaster area.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Biden can come at any time.
“We will definitely welcome him,” Turner said.
Texas Representative Michael McCaul told CNN’s “State of the Union” that federal disaster relief can be used to repair pipe explosions and flood damage and to help Texans get bills of fired energy.
McCaul also criticized Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s decision to take his family on vacation in the midst of the crisis.
“When a crisis hits my state, I’m there,” McCaul said. “I am not going on holiday. I know Mr. Cruz said it as a mistake and so far he owns it. But I think it was a big mistake. “
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Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Sainz reported from Memphis, Tennessee. Associated Press writers Hope Yen in Austin, Texas, and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.