HJNO Nov/Dec 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  NOV / DEC 2021 9 storm surge Hurricane Response During a Pandemic and Effects on Public Health _______ When Hurricane Ida crashed into Port Fourchon, Louisiana, as a Category 4 storm on August 29, 2021, everyone was already braced for the worst. The storm had never wavered from the tightly clustered spaghetti model, steadily strengthening and racing to make landfall on the same day Hurricane Katrina had done so 16 years before. Even seasoned veterans of decades of hurricanes admitted to “having a bad feeling about this one.” The speed of the storm’s approach and the fact that the state was in the grasp of a fourth COVID-19 surge added new wrinkles to storm preparations and evacuation plans, leaving many more to shelter in place than might typically happen. The aftermath of hours of sustained hurricane force winds and damaging storm surge devastated the entire infrastructure of many of our southeastern parishes. Thousands were left without homes, electricity, water, communications and, for a time, healthcare. There is no doubt that the lessons learned and contingencies put in place after Hurricane Katrina helped most facilities in the affected areas weather the storm and quickly return to providing healthcare. But Hurricane Ida’s widespread damage, extended power outages and communications failures created unique challenges for a health system already reeling from the Delta variant’s effects on delivering healthcare in our state. In this roundtable, we learn from area facilities how they weathered this “perfect storm” of elements.