- Title: Patients evacuated from Beaumont hospital due to water shortage
- Date: 31st August 2017
- Summary: BEAUMONT, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 31, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. CHIMA NWAUKWA OF BAPTIST BEAUMONT HOSPITAL SAYING: "Everyone will be transferred because obviously, the sewage system...the toilets are not going to work and there will be no running water anywhere in the hospital."
- Embargoed: 14th September 2017 21:13
- Keywords: Beaumont storm hurricane Harvey flood hospital
- Location: BEAUMONT, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
- City: BEAUMONT, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Floods
- Reuters ID: LVA0046WHMN9J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Doctors and nurses evacuated some 190 people from a Beaumont hospital that halted operations on Thursday (August 31) after water service in the city of almost 120,000 people was knocked out by the storm. Harvey came ashore over the weekend as the most powerful hurricane to hit the state in a half-century.
"The hospital needs about 50,000 gallons a day, and so far, I believe we have about 10,000 gallons in reserve and that's grossly inadequate to take care of the patients," Dr. Chima Nwaukwa of Baptist Beaumont Hospital said.
The city's two water facilities are both flooded and it could be days before they can be repaired, said city manager Kyle Hayes.
Some 779,000 Texans had been ordered to evacuate their homes and another 980,000 had fled on their own amid concerns that swollen reservoirs and rivers could bring new flooding even as Harvey, downgraded to a tropical depression, headed inland, according to Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Elaine Duke. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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