Sorry for the lateness of this update.
UTMB remains on emergency status. A preliminary assessment of the campus indicates that, in general, the facilities suffered minimal structural damage, although we do have some water and wind damage. We are also still on emergency power, without air conditioning or lighting in many areas. We have no water for showers or toilets, and we don’t yet have phone service. We are working to bring all these systems back on line as quickly as possible.
Now that the water has receded, we’ve been able to conduct an initial assessment of the research building exteriors on the central campus and saw no signs of major structural damage. The next priority was to restore operation of the emergency generators that had stopped running. We also checked the status of the animal colonies and found the animals in good condition. The research building assessment teams will continue the survey tomorrow.
We have moved the Emergency Department back to the Trauma Center and have seen approximately 16 patients so far, none of them serious. As we noted earlier, we are providing emergency services only at this point, which means we are stabilizing and treating patients and then transfering them to other facilities.
Tomorrow, we will decide how best to give employees here a chance to leave for a bit and check out their homes. We don’t yet have a date when we’ll be calling employees in to relieve the people who stayed. As soon as we do, we will let you know through as many communications sources as we have available. Stay put for now and stay tuned.
About the 409-747-9038 number listed on this site. Unlike the alert line, which is a recorded message, this goes straight to the UTMB command center. Since it’s our main phone link to the outside, we ask that you call only if it’s an emergency.
Be safe. Continue to monitor the site. The next update will be
tomorrow morning.
As I read the postings by Joan Richardson and Mike Megna at UTMB.edu, all I could think was “now, THAT’s the way to run a hospital!” Even here in New Hampshire I was able to watch KHOU, which claimed the UTMB Emergency Department had closed. In utter disbelief, I checked the website and was able to read what had been happening. It’s a far cry from the hurricanes I went through at UTMB, especially Alicia. I’ll admit I’m glad I’m not there at the moment, but I’m proud of those who are. The people of Galveston, and of Texas as a whole, have always been able to count on UTMB.
Can you please post information for students regarding their status for upcoming classes etc? How do they know if they should try and return to Galveston?
First, I want to say how proud I am of everyone who stayed to hold down the fort at UTMB! Tia and I have been watching the latest on TV. We are hoping we can get back to the island by Tuesday(not sure if that is possible)to assess damage to our loft and her mom’s condo on 75th street and Harve Laffeit. We heard that 5 condos in her area burned down, and are praying that one of them was not hers.There was a reported 8 feet of water in our lobby of the Galveston Telephone Building where our loft is located at 22nd and Church. Our neighbor below us is Dr. Celia Chow, and she road out the storm in her loft. I believe that she is okay, but have not heard back from her. If anyone has any news on her, please let me know. Not sure about the damage to our loft, or if the windows were blown out, etc. If anyone has any updates, we’d appreciate any news. God bless each of you.
Jim McCurdy
Not anticipating the storm surge and assuming we would only be gone for a day or two, we left our 2 cats in our house. This is obviously the least of the priorities, but does anyone know of pet rescues on the island? Our house is on 16th st. in the East End. Speaking of East End, does anyone have any information about this area (how much flooding, etc…). As I posted previously, I’m available to help UTMB in any way possible (e.g., manual labor, clean up). I’m also trained as a psychologist. cell: 409-370-7485; e-mail: jetemple@utmb.edu.
Many thanks,
Jeff Temple, PhD
Department of Ob/Gyn