In the West Virginia capital of Charleston, where about 50,000 people live in a wide, flat river valley, a severe storm could flood five of the city's six hospitals at once.
At the largest hospital, up to 5 feet of water could reach the emergency room. At the children's hospital, the river could rise and block all exits. And at another downtown hospital, more than 10 feet of flooding could surround the facility on three sides.
These are some conclusions new investigation by KFF Health News which examined the nationwide flood risk in hospitals using data provided by deptha company considered a leader in flood modeling. The investigation identified 171 hospitals with a total of nearly 30,000 beds from coast to coast that are at greatest risk of significant or hazardous flooding.
The investigation found an increased risk of flooding at large trauma centers, small rural hospitals, children's hospitals and long-term care facilities that serve older adults and patients with disabilities. While coastal flooding threatens many hospitals in low-lying states such as Florida and Texas, many inland hospitals are at risk from rivers and streams overflowing, especially in Appalachia. Even in the sun-drenched cities and arid expanses of the American West, storms can flood some hospitals with several feet of water, according to Fathom.
“The reality is that the risk of flooding is everywhere. It is the most common hazard,” said Oliver Wing, chief scientist at Fathom, who analyzed the results. “Just because you've never experienced extreme events doesn't mean you never will.”
The KFF Health News investigation is among the first to analyze the nationwide risk of hospital flooding in an era of warming climates and increasing storms. This comes amid a downsizing of President Donald Trump's administration. federal agencies that forecast And respond to extreme weatherterminated Federal Emergency Management Agency programs designed to protect hospitals and other important buildings and has generally rejected the threat of climate change, which the President recently called “the greatest scam ever committed in the world”
Even a small flood can shut down an unprepared hospital, often by cutting off its power supply needed for life-support equipment such as ventilators and heart monitors.
Charleston Medical Center, the health system that operates most of the hospitals in Charleston, said it recognizes the risk of flooding and has taken steps to prepare, such as purchasing a deployable flood wall.
Many other hospitals may not be aware of the flood risk. Of the 171 hospitals with significant flood risk identified by KFF Health News, one-third are in areas outside of FEMA mapped flood hazard zones.
“This is very alarming,” said Caleb Dresser, who studies climate change and is both an emergency room physician and an assistant professor at Harvard University. “If you don't have the information to know you're at risk, how can you address the problem?”
