After every disaster our team seeks to discover the lessons that are being learned. There are still many unanswered questions. Daily we find more stories of heroism and generosity. As we searched we have found success stories that demonstrate the effectiveness of pre-disaster planning.
Below are five excellent articles that cover compelling topics: operational resilience, emergency and medical response, infrastructure recovery, financial stats and more.
1. Asheville’s Mission Hospital Was Prepared and Maintained Operations Through the Unfolding Disaster
Mission Hospital, part of HCA Healthcare, is not only the largest hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, it is also the largest employer in the city. When Hurricane Helene plowed into the Appalachian region, the hospital was both a victim of the storm and the salvation point for the injured and first responders. Its preparations for the storm, and subsequent disaster response, will likely become a model for future recovery planning.
Despite being located in a city devastated by the storm, Mission Hospital was prepared and maintained operations through the unfolding disaster and its aftermath. Hospital officials detailed how that were able to do this during a press conference Oct. 5.
2. Hectic and Heroic Work for Helene Victims: They Didn’t Leave!
Patients at the hospital, owned by Nashville-based HCA Healthcare, kept pouring in through the emergency room entrance, some with make-shift bandages and slings. One person had caution tape wrapped around an injury as a tourniquet. The hospital, which typically treats 275 patients on a typical day, attended to 600 and many of them were very ill, the doctor said.
“A lot of the emergency room staff, nurses, the doctors, respiratory therapists and techs, everybody, we’re all in the same boat,” the medical director said during an interview Thursday with a USA TODAY reporter. “We all have families. We all have houses. Many people had damage to their houses and a lot of people who were here when it initially hit, they didn’t leave the hospital for days. Many doctors and nurses are sleeping on mats and air mattresses.
3. Two weeks later. Taking stock of storm recovery across Western NC, county-by-county.
For much of Western North Carolina, there was everything that happened before Sept. 27 when Helene swept through the region. And then there is everything that happened since Helene produced floods, landslides and fallen trees that brought destruction, danger, death and despair. It’s been just over two weeks and much of the region will never be as it once was.
Recovery varies from county to county.
- Some parts of the 27-county disaster area have recovered well.
- But for several counties, search and rescue for storm victims and perhaps survivors continues, along with a reckoning of the scope of damage to homes, businesses and roads, as well as water and electrical infrastructure.
- One county has too many supplies being donated, while an adjacent one is in desperate need.
What follows is a roundup of what the Carolina Public Press news team learned about what happened in each of those counties and how they are faring two weeks after Helen.
4. The New Worry — A Second Wave of Medical Issues May Slam the Region in Helene’s Wake
Following the initial health crises in the aftermath of tropical storm Helene, Buncombe County and others inundated by the storm may be facing a secondary medical surge, one driven by infections and diseases and potentially exacerbated by a lack of running water, emergency response officials warned.
Helene’s initial devastation in western North Carolina sent hundreds to the hospital with needs for everything from oxygen to traumatic wound care. Now, two weeks after the storm, doctors, health professionals and officials in charge of disaster relief say there could be a second wave of medical concerns affecting hospitals and clinics, and it could be here soon. Learn more >>
5. CoreLogic Announces Final Estimated Damages for Hurricane Helene
CoreLogic announced its updated and final damage estimates for Hurricane Helene. Total insured loss estimated at $10.5 to $17.5 billion. According to this new and final data analysis, total flood and wind losses are between $30.5 billion and $47.5 billion. This estimate includes wind loss as well as insured and uninsured storm surge and inland flood loss for residential and commercial properties across 16 states.
Read the article to read a detailed breakdown of peril loss estimates.
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