Houston's Ben Taub Hospital had initially planned to transfer all of its 350 patients. But waist-high water immediately outside and blocked roads eventually shrunk the evacuation to only three vehicles, according to an article on the Washington Post website.
Through it all, Ben Taub had a foot of water rising in the hospital’s basement from a burst pipe and wet seeping in from the city’s inundated streets. The kitchen was knocked out, as well as the pharmacy and the area where supplies such as linens and needles are stored.
Ben Taub was among some 20 of about 110 hospitals in Houston and nearby counties that removed a portion or all of their patients. Many other facilities canceled elective surgeries and any other appointments that could wait.
MD Anderson Cancer Center shut down its massive outpatient operation to focus its diminished resources on patients already in the hospital with the most time-sensitive need for treatment.
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