Update from Texas:
8/29/17
It is still raining. Estimates for this area are about 25 inches since Friday but the more important figure is the geographic territory over which the rain has fallen. In 2001 with Allison, the Medical center got over 30 inches in 24 hours, forcing an evacuation of all the hospitals, but the rainfall was relatively localized. With Harvey, the precipitation maps show that over 20 inches of rain has fallen everywhere inside the city of Houston and much of the surrounding area. We are 35 miles north and have had more than 2 feet of rain. So, an area the size of Lake Michigan is now covered with water, some of it ten feet deep.
The problem today is that all of the rivers are starting to crest. The San Jacinto River is now flooding streets and highways in my area to the north, causing new road closures. To the east, the flood zones of the Brazos and Colorado Rivers are being evacuated. For many areas distant from us, the worst is yet to come. There are new evacuations of hospitals and nursing homes, and since our hospitals in The Woodlands are open, some patients are coming here. However, patients are also headed to other cities- perhaps to be cared for by some of you.
We are inexpressibly grateful that we continue to have power and that our house is relatively undamaged. We have a few large trash cans catching drips here and there, but we’ve had much worse from previous storms that did not even make the news. We have enough food. We are still being asked to stay off the streets as much as possible. Life Flight helicopters are making trips overhead, but it’s actually very quiet – except of course, for the relentless sound of RAIN.
A handy thing I just found for a friend- this is a map of open pharmacies. If you have a friend in need of medication within this rapidly enlarging disaster zone — send them to this site. Please spread the word.
https://www.healthcareready.org/rxopen
Thank you for your continued prayers and kind notes, texts and emails. We are absolutely fine and it is now clear that we are in danger of nothing more than being inconvenienced. However, there is apocalyptic suffering only a few miles away from us and currently we can’t do anything about it other than to donate to the Salvation Army and the Red Cross- which I encourage everyone to do- just $10!
http://www.redcross.org/
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
