Dr. Latoya Storr was an emergency medicine physician for a hospital in Grand Bahama when Hurricane Dorian ripped across the island in 2019. The hospital flooded four feet deep in places. Storr and her colleagues had to move the intensive care unit, pediatric department, and maternal care into the emergency room area—the only space not totally flooded.
Storr was particularly struck that the health risks for her patients didn't stop when the storm passed. In the first few days after the hurricane, patients showed up with bad bruises from escaping floodwaters or trying to fix their houses. People came to the hospital who had lost their medications when power went out, or they couldn't refill prescriptions. Weeks later, people started showing up with breathing issues because mold had started to grow in their flooded homes.
