Three weeks after Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast, state officials believe at least 82 people have died as a result of the storm.
The death toll could’ve been much higher, considering the widespread flooding of homes, hospitals, and other businesses.
However, “The mass casualties have absolutely not happened,” John Hellerstedt, MD, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), said in an interview with The Washington Post. “The deaths that are attributable to this disaster [are] a very small portion” of the almost 4,300 deaths that occur in a typical week in Houston, he said.
According to the American Red Cross, more than 5,000 people spent Wednesday night in 28 shelters across the Texas coast, mostly in Houston and Harris County. At the height of the flooding, more than 30,000 people sought refuge in shelters, officials said.
Three hospitals or health care facilities in the Houston and Corpus Christi areas are closed, including Care Regional Hospital in Aransas Pass and East Houston Regional Medical Center in Houston, both of which will remain closed indefinitely because of flood damage.
Meanwhile, physicians throughout the affected areas continue to rebuild flood-damaged practices, including NightLight Pediatric Urgent Care clinic in Humble.
State health officials also have been focused on fighting infections caused by bacteria in floodwaters and from mosquitoes. U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo planes have been spraying insecticides over more than 2 million acres in East Texas, officials have said. Almost 4,000 doses of influenza vaccines have been distributed to first-responders and the public, DSHS officials said.
“Most mosquitoes that appear after floods are nuisance mosquitoes that don’t spread disease but can have a serious effect on recovery operations by preventing responders and people affected by a disaster from being outside,” DSHS officials said in a statement. “Areas of standing water can also increase the number of mosquitoes capable of spreading diseases like West Nile virus and Zika.”
Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday added two more counties to a disaster proclamation that was approved Aug. 25. Milam County in Central Texas and Angelina County in East Texas have been added to the 58 counties eligible to receive federal assistance and resources as they recover from the storm.
The disaster proclamation also allows for certain health care exemptions in the affected counties. Among these are requiring health plans — including Medicare, Medicare, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program — to allow patients to receive out-of-network care for nonemergencies; extensions of medical benefits; and waivers of certain prescription regulations until the proclamation is lifted.
More information on Hurricane Harvey recovery can be found in TMA's Disaster Preparedness & Response Resource Center or by contacting the TMA Knowledge Center at knowledge[at]texmed[dot]org or by calling (800) 880-7955 or (512) 370-1544.
Physicians who want to help their colleagues rebuild can make a tax-deductible donation to the TMA Disaster Relief Program, which aims to help the countless medical practices across south and coastal bend Texas facing a similar fate return to caring for their patients as quickly as possible.
“People need their doctor, but so many of our physicians suffered total, devastating losses to their medical practices as a result of Hurricane Harvey,” said TMA President Carlos J. Cardenas, MD. “We wanted to jump in and help them rebuild or relocate as quickly as possible, because their patients need them.”
Funds from the Disaster Relief Program will help physicians pay for storm loss expenses their insurance or other sources will not cover. The goal is to raise more than $1 million.