In Port Charlotte, along Florida’s Gulf Coast, the storm surge flooded a lower-level emergency room in a hospital even as fierce winds ripped away part of the roof from its intensive care unit, according to a doctor who works there.
Water gushed down onto the ICU, forcing staff to evacuate the hospital’s sickest patients -- some of whom were on ventilators — to other floors, said Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital. Staff members used towels and plastic bins to try to mop up the sodden mess.
"As long as our patients do OK and nobody ends up dying or having a bad outcome, that’s what matters," Bodine said.
The
medium-sized hospital spans four floors, but patients were forced into
just two because of the damage. Bodine planned to spend the night there
in case people injured from the storm arrive needing help. Read more and see videos here.
