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Chaos as Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital is evacuated amid massive flooding
- The hospital lost power when Sandy hit and hasn’t had full power since the superstorm hit
- 150 National Guard members took part in the evacuation procedure
- Millions of liters had flooded the hospital basement
- Soldiers and rescuers had to bring children and patients to safety
The National Guard was called out on Wednesday to help evacuate hundreds of patients and staff from New York’s Bellevue Hospital as the flooded Manhattan medical center struggled to function as the blackout continued.
The public hospital lost power when Hurricane Sandy hit Monday, and electricity was erratic as the facility relied on generators, with members of the Army National Guard carrying fuel to the hospital’s roof all week to charge the generators. to provide power.
A chaotic rescue scene unfolded Wednesday, as medical staff carried babies down stairs and soldiers carried patients out on stretchers, as the strong smell of fuel filled the air and emergency lights occasionally illuminated rescue crews, according to local newspaper reports. media.
Chaotic: Hundreds of patients and staff were evacuated from Bellevue Hospital as the facility struggled to operate during the blackout that continued to plague New York City
Urgent transfer: the most critical patients were transferred to nearby medical centers and other patients were discharged
“It’s Katrina-esque in there,” a Bellevue nurse said ABC news about the conditions.
According to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, 150 members of the National Guard assisted in Wednesday’s rescue effort to get the most critical patients to nearby medical centers.
Millions of gallons of water had poured into the hospital’s basement, located near the East River at 1st Avenue and 27th Street.
Always ready, always there: The National Guard was on hand to carry patients out of the flooded lower Manhattan medical center
Bellevue is the second hospital in Manhattan to evacuate patients in the aftermath of the superstorm. NYU’s Langone Medical Center had to move patients because the hospital’s backup generators didn’t kick on when the building’s electricity went out as the storm swept up the East Coast Monday night.
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