Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Systems Face New Challenges In The Wake Of Hurricane Milton
Back-to-back superstorms have tested health systems' ability to turn tabletop crisis exercises into reality on a dime as they raced to keep their facilities operational in the face of dangerous storm surges. (Reed, 10/15)
Hospitals like Mission need potable water for staff to sanitize equipment, clean wounds and simply wash their hands with soap. Other facilities − such as Asheville's Planned Parenthood clinic and local birthing centers − were forced to cut key health services because they didn't have running water. The surrounding community has been battling an array of public health challenges in the aftermath of the historic deluge in late September, including residents' risk of being exposed to sewage, toxic industrial waste and mosquito-borne illnesses. (Cuevas, 10/15)
Hurricane Milton may have dissipated over the Atlantic Ocean, but the floodwaters it left across Florida still pose a major risk to human health and safety. Even though the risk of drowning or getting injured in rising, fast-moving water is past, standing water remains treacherous to navigate and likely harbors dangerous diseases. Walking in it should be avoided at all costs, government officials and health experts warn. (Hirji, 10/12)
Gulf Coast citizens 65 and older have had a difficult time after heavy hits from Helene and Milton. Many live in retirement communities with manufactured homes, which are easily destroyed during storms. (Williams, 10/14)
On Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in North Carolina —
The staff of the Asheville-based Manna Foodbank tried their best to prepare for Hurricane Helene. Workers at the nonprofit’s primary distribution site just feet from the Swannanoa River moved tens of thousands of food items onto tall shelves ahead of the storm’s arrival. The shelves, they thought, would be high enough to protect the food if the building flooded. But after the storm’s catastrophic lurch through western North Carolina, the region’s largest and most wide-reaching food bank was almost fully submerged in rippling waves of brown water. Its stockpile of food, now more badly needed than ever, was gone. (Baxley, 10/15)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has resumed door-to-door neighborhood outreaches in some areas afflicted by Hurricane Helene as one man is accused of making a threat against its employees. Amid reports of militia involvement, the agency told CNN it was the subject of several threats and the alleged threat from the man later arrested was the main one it was aware of when it decided to pull back on outreach. (Almasy, 10/15)
