Hospitals scramble as massive storm highlights increasingly common threat putting health care at risk: 'We have to be prepared'

One East Coast city on constant flood alert shows how problematic our changing climate can be to vital infrastructure.

What's happening?

In Charleston, South Carolina, the hospital district is located in such a flood-prone area that even thunderstorms, high tides, and sunny days can disrupt operations, as The Washington Post reported. 

The paper tracked one doctor of the 1,000 staff who spent two nights at the Medical University of South Carolina in early August as Tropical Storm Debby inundated the city with 10-15 inches of rain.

It documented how the state's "most important medical sites" — veterans and children's hospitals, as well as the region's only level 1 trauma center — have continually faced problems brought on by flooding.

Employees have become accustomed to emergency protocols; MUSC brings out sandbags and raises flood barriers, holds appointments virtually, and postpones discharges and elective surgeries.

This storm was not a bad one, as there was only isolated flooding in the area, but a December nor'easter forced some people to boat to work. 

"You kind of put up with it and recognize there's a problem and hope there's some infrastructure that can deal with it," said Maggie Thomas, a teaching physician at the hospital.

Why is this important?

Increasingly common and severe floods are one symptom of our climate crisis. Another is rising sea levels. Put these together, and you have cities such as Charleston that are having trouble keeping their heads above water.

It's all caused by global heating, which is brought on by the burning of dirty energy sources, including oil, coal, and gas. These actions produce carbon dioxide and other gases that fill our atmosphere and magnify a natural warming effect by absorbing and radiating heat, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

We can and do mitigate the effects of increasingly dangerous temperatures, but the only way to slow or stop the trend from getting out of hand is to halt our consumption of these dirty energy sources.

What's being done about the constant flooding?

If things get bad at MUSC, it can move its operations to a higher floor. The hospital also has a high-water vehicle so staff can travel across campus, and there are hopes it will "build a raised passageway to get across flood-prone streets," according to the Post. 

But another facility has decided to relocate. Roper Hospital will move by 2030 to better stave off floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters, the Post reported.

This is despite the city's best efforts to change the equation around the medical center. It recently extended a drainage tunnel for $15 million and is building a third pump station to handle 360,000 gallons of water per minute. There's even a shaft that plunges 130 feet into the ground to divert rainwater from the street.

"We have to be prepared," MUSC executive vice president for finance and operations Rick Anderson told the Post.

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