![]() ![]() This task was impeded by the lack of workforce and infrastructure as a result of the storms. To provide proper risk communication, it was critical to educate health care providers about environmental issues and to ensure their understanding of the science so that they could knowledgeably explain to people the possible environmental impacts of Hurricane Katrina on their health. People who were trying to come back to the affected area and rebuild needed to know the risks they were taking. The entire coastline affected by the two storms was being monitored, and information on the potential impacts was being provided.Īccording to Guidry, it was important for people to get back to a sense of normalcy and to move on with their lives as soon as possible. Recreational activities such as boating, swimming, fishing, hunting, camping, and bird watching were a part of the state’s natural resources in the Gulf Coast prior to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This evacuation of hospital patients to out-of-state locations helped to empty beds and prepared hospitals for attending to victims of the storms. In some cases patients were evacuated, one or two at a time, by boat to a helipad where they were transferred to a helicopter that brought them to the airport, from which they were flown to other states. In the initial days following the storm flooding of Hurricane Katrina, the state evacuated approximately 12,000 caregivers and their patients from 25 hospitals. Thus, within two hours of the order to evacuate from the path of Hurricane Rita, every remaining gymnasium and every empty space not in the affected area became a shelter, said Guidry. The challenge in responding to Hurricane Rita was that individuals evacuated before Hurricane Katrina to the western part of Louisiana needed to be reevacuated to the eastern and northern parts of the state. ![]() While Hurricane Katrina affected primarily the eastern part of Louisiana, Hurricane Rita affected the western part. ![]() Available resources were stretched further when Hurricane Rita made landfall in the Gulf Coast a few weeks after Hurricane Katrina. The largest emergency room of 700 beds was established at an assembly center to take care of people from affected areas. While many people chose to stay, others did not have an opportunity to evacuate because of unavailable resources, noted Jimmy Guidry of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.ĭuring the pre- and post-storm evacuation, the state set up special needs shelters for those with medical needs and began triaging approximately 30,000 to 40,000 people. However, approximately 150,000 to 200,000 individuals (accurate numbers were difficult to attain) remained during the storm. The state of Louisiana evacuated approximately 1.5 million people before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. This was a daunting task that required evacuating the most densely populated area of the state to unaffected regions both within the state and in other states around the country. In the state of Louisiana alone, approximately 1.7 million people were affected by the storm and needed to be evacuated. The affected area of Hurricane Katrina covered three states and approximately 90,000 square miles. ![]()
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