The Unexpected Flash Flood
It’s not uncommon for a hurricane to build power and rage across the warmer southern states, before weakening on a northbound trajectory. However, when Hurricane Helene hit the Southern Appalachian Mountains in late September, it caused an unexpected and destructive flash flood. The rising floodwaters in Unicoi County in eastern Tennessee made all ground-based attempts at rescue impossible, and rapidly engulfed the surrounding area with a debris-filled onslaught.
Unicoi County Hospital found itself in the deadly path of Hurricane Helene, leaving dozens of people stranded on the rooftop as murky, brown rapids swelled around the building. With 12 feet of water on all sides, trees, trailers, buildings, caskets, and cars sped past in the relentless rus. The fear was palpable, as no one knew how long the hospital’s structure would withstand the pressure.
The Perilous Rescue
Only minutes before her takeoff, April Boyd, a flight nurse for Ballad Health, texted her husband out of fear of the unknown. The mission was as daring as it was necessary: to airlift medical patients from the over-encumbered hospital rooftop. But the uncertainties were many. The hospital, relocated in 2018 to a known flood plain, wasn’t designed for helicopter landings on its roof. There was concern whether the rooftop could endure the weight of a 7,200-pound Eurocopter, especially amidst a flash flood.
Emergency Measures and Lessons Learned
Despite the extreme odds, the evacuation proved extraordinarily successful. All 70 people, including 11 patients, were airlifted without a single fatality or physical injury. Praise for the rescue operation, however, has been tempered by the realization that it likely could have been avoided. The hospital’s location on a known flood plain has raised concerns to the forefront about the strategy behind infrastructure development and project location decision-making.
This incident serves as a stern warning, highlighting the urgent need for health care leaders and public officials to prepare for severe weather events due to climate change, particularly in landlocked regions. In an effort towards this, the Biden administration enacted a rule this year aimed at promoting construction resilience to flooding for federally funded projects.
Widespread Concern in Tennessee
Approximately 20 other hospitals in Tennessee have been identified as being in or near flood plains, raising serious concerns about their preparedness against similar disasters. As climate change intensifies and shifts weather patterns, past norms can no longer predict future events. With warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico contributing to increasingly severe storms moving northward, the need to reconsider hospital locations and infrastructural design standards has never been more important.
Looking to the Future
Although evacuated successfully, the Unicoi County Hospital was lost to the flood. Ballad Health has since established a temporary care center and has plans for a full-service hospital. They face a steep price tag of about $50 million, doubling the cost from 2018. The future location of the hospital is still undecided, but it’s clear that it should be wisely chosen with a higher emphasis on safety rather than convenience or aesthetics.
The harrowing events of Hurricane Helene force a rethink on how to prepare and mitigate against potential future disasters due to climate change. Effective planning and strategizing are imperative. While we can’t control the weather, we can surely learn from past mistakes, heed the warnings nature gives us, and make smarter decisions that could save lives in the future.