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Health professionals still feeling effects of Hurricane
Floyd
Posted
9-27-99 Raleigh, N.C. Hurricane Floyd has come and gone, but healthcare professionals along the coast are still feeling its wrath as water-related health problems continue. "This is a major health concern. I have never seen or heard of a catastrophe quite like this," said Don Dalton, vice president of public relations for the North Carolina Hospital Association. In North Carolina, some rivers are still 11 feet above flood stage and will probably take another two weeks to recede, Dalton said. With the rising waters come dangers ranging from mosquitoes to millions of rotting animal carcasses in the water. The American Red Cross has more than 150 nurses staffing shelters and emergency aid stations in at least nine coastal states, said Jan Jaekle, RN, disaster health services officer. "The disaster is so widespread because the storm impacted so many states," Jaekle said. "Our need for regular care nurses has been overwhelming." And things won't be improving anytime soon, Dalton said. "Hospital employees are experiencing fatigue and there are limitations on staffing. … It looks like it will get more serious in the next week. There are no projections for when it will be back to normal," he said. Hospitals in Tarboro, Greenville, and Rocky Mount have experienced power and water supply interruptions, Dalton said. Another is in desperate need of clean linens because its laundry service provider is under water. In some areas, hospital employees are being flown in on National Guard helicopters.
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