2023 Hurricane Idalia Situation Report #1
Partnership powers our work. As a 501c3 nonprofit, Healthcare Ready relies on funding from donations, grants, and sponsorships to make this crucial work possible. Contact us at contactus@healthcareready.org today to learn more about sponsoring a situation report or contributing to our Crisis Fund.
Healthcare Ready's Posture
Healthcare Ready is ENGAGED for this event. We are monitoring potential concerns for supply chain disruptions and impacts on healthcare services on our response page, listing resources and previous situation reports.
Highlights
Healthcare Ready has activated our EOC and Hotline for patients to call for support in navigating their personal healthcare needs. This compliments our activation of www.rxopen.org which maps the status of pharmacies, Community Health Centers, Dialysis Clinics.
Situation Overview
- As of Thursday, August 31, Hurricane Idalia has been downgraded to a tropical storm, sustaining 60 mph winds. It has curved out towards the Atlantic, off the coast of North and South Carolina.
- Through the rest of Thursday, tropical storm conditions are expected in northeastern South Carolina.
- Affected areas of North Carolina can expect to see flash, urban, and moderate river flooding. Areas along the coast are expected to see flooding, and residents in those areas should follow the advice given by local officials.
- Tropical storm conditions are expected in portions of eastern North Carolina.
- As of 3:00 PM EDT on Thursday, August 31, here are the power outage statistics for the four states impacted by Hurricane Idalia. These numbers are subject to fluctuations as power is either reinstated in those areas or more outages are tracked.
- Florida – 94,049 outages
- Georgia – 79,600 outages
- South Carolina – 3,733 outages
- North Carolina – 4,693 outages
Key Updates
- Florida
- On Saturday, August 26, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in preparation for Hurricane Idalia. Then, on Tuesday, August 29, Governor DeSantis issued an executive order that expanded the number of counties under the state of emergency from the original 33 counties to 49 counties.
- On Monday, August 28, President Biden approved Florida’s emergency declaration, which authorizes FEMA to assist in coordinating all disaster relief efforts.
- On Thursday, August 31, President Biden declared a major disaster exists in Florida and has made Federal funding available to the affected counties of Citrus, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee, and Taylor.
- This allows for the reimbursement of debris removal and authorizing individual assistance for those impacted by the storm in the affected counties listed above.
- Additional counties may be approved in the coming days.
- Georgia
- On Tuesday, August 29, Governor Brian Kemp issued a State of Emergency for all of Georgia in preparation for Hurricane Idalia.
- South Carolina
- On Tuesday, August 29, Governor Henry McMaster issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in preparation for Hurricane Idalia.
- As of Thursday, August 31, President Biden approved South Carolina’s emergency declaration, which authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.
- North Carolina
- On Tuesday, August 29, Governor Roy Cooper declared a State of Emergency in preparation for Hurricane Idalia. This active the state’s emergency operation plans, waived transportation rules to assist in getting fuel and critical supplies and services to where they need to go, and other response actions.
Impacts to Healthcare and Supply Chain
Impacts to Healthcare
- Based on the HHS emPOWER Map, which displays the total number of at-risk electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries: Florida has 188,189 at-risk beneficiaries; Georgia has 93,775 at-risk beneficiaries; North Carolina has 106,972 at-risk beneficiaries; and South Carolina has 52,408 at-risk beneficiaries.
- As of 3:00 PM EDT on Thursday, August 31, Florida has 3 counties with nearly 100% power outages, and 7 counties with 15 – 75% power outages across customers tracked. Within those 10 counties, there are 3,683 at-risk beneficiaries who rely on electricity-dependent medical devices.
- Counties tracked: Taylor, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Lafayette, Dixie, Suwannee, Levy, Gilchrist, and Columbia.
- As of 3:00 PM EDT on Thursday, August 31, Georgia has 2 counties with nearly 100% power outages and 8 counties with 25% – 75% power outages across customers tracked. Within those 10 counties, there are 4,184 at-risk beneficiaries who rely on electricity-dependent medical devices.
- Counties tracked: Lowndes, Brooks, Echols, Clinch, Ware, Charlton, Coffee, Berrien, Lanier, and Pierce.
- As of 3:00 PM EDT on Thursday, August 31, South Carolina and North Carolina are seeing minimal power outages, but that could change as Tropical Storm Idalia clears the mainland through the rest of Thursday.
- It is critical that electric providers in those affected states and counties get power back online to ensure that those at-risk beneficiaries can use their electricity-dependent medical devices.
- As of 2:30 PM EDT on Thursday, August 31, power services are being brought back online across all four states. However, it is still critical to ensure those at-risk beneficiaries are able to use their electricity-dependent medical devices.
- As of 3:00 PM EDT on Thursday, August 31, Florida has 3 counties with nearly 100% power outages, and 7 counties with 15 – 75% power outages across customers tracked. Within those 10 counties, there are 3,683 at-risk beneficiaries who rely on electricity-dependent medical devices.
- Teladoc provides free general medical telehealth visits, non-emergency services, and prescription refills to Florida residents, first responders, and others impacted at (855) 225-5032.
- Due to the impacts of Hurricane (and now Tropical Storm) Idalia, across several southern states, numerous emergency shelters have been opened for impacted individuals seeking shelter.
- Florida Shelters
- As of Thursday, August 31, several general population shelters are open in the following counties. The list below is not an exhaustive list and will continue to be updated on the FDEM shelter page.
- Manatee
- Mills Elementary
- Freedom Elementary
- Miller Elementary
- Hernando
- D.S. Parrott Middle School
- West Hernando Middle School
- Hernando High School
- Nature Coast Tech High
- Pinellas
- Palm Harbor University High School
- Jefferson County
- Jefferson K-12 School
- Liberty County
- Liberty County High School
- Dixie County
- Dixie County High School
- Volusia County
- Volusia County Fairgrounds
- Nassau County
- Wildlight Elementary
- Orange County
- Little Econ Park
- Goldernrod Recreation Center/Magic Gym
- Barnett Park/Barnett Gym
- St. Johns County
- Solomon Calhoun Community Center
- Columbia County
- Fort White High School
- Manatee
- As of Thursday, August 31, several special needs shelters are open in the following counties. It is important to note that access to these shelters requires registration on the Florida Special Needs Registry. The list below is not an exhaustive list and will continue to be updated on FDEM shelter page.
- Manatee County
- Nolan Middle Special Needs
- Pinellas County
- John Hopkins Middle School
- Palm Harbor University High School
- Lealman Exchange
- Volusia County
- Volusia County Health Department
- Hernando County
- West Hernando Middle School
- Polk County
- Polk County Health Department Specialty Care Unit
- Liberty County
- Special Needs
- Columbia County
- Westside Elementary School – Building 3
- Nassau County
- Wildlight Elementary
- Gilchrist County
- Special Needs Shelter
- St. Johns County
- St. Johns County Health and Human Services
- Orange County
- Goldenrod Recreation Center/Magic Gym
- Silver Star Rec Center/Magic Gym
- Barnett Park/Barnett Gym
- Manatee County
- As of Thursday, August 31, several general population shelters are open in the following counties. The list below is not an exhaustive list and will continue to be updated on the FDEM shelter page.
- Georgia Shelters
- As of Thursday, August 31, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency has listed the following locations as emergency shelters for individuals seeking refuge:
- Lowndes County
- Park Avenue Methodist Church
- Henry County
- Atlanta Motor Speedway
- Opened up a limited number of RV spots
- Opened up its camping grounds
- Atlanta Motor Speedway
- Lowndes County
- As of Thursday, August 31, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency has listed the following locations as emergency shelters for individuals seeking refuge:
- South Carolina
- As of Thursday, August 31, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division has listed one location as an emergency shelter:
- Charleston County
- Sheriff’s Admin Facility
- Charleston County
- As of Thursday, August 31, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division has listed one location as an emergency shelter:
- Florida Shelters
Critical Healthcare Infrastructure
- The image below represents a heatmap of healthcare facilities (including Hospitals, pharmacies, Dialysis Centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers) in the most affected counties in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.
- The table below shows the number of critical healthcare facilities in the potential affected areas.
- Florida
- On Wednesday, August 30, Governor Ron DeSantis noted that a majority of hospitals that evacuated will be operational within the next 24 hours.
- HCA Florida West Tampa Hospital
- HCA Florida Trinity West Hospital
- HCA Florida Pasadena Hospital
- HCA – closed a few freestanding emergency care facilities.
- AdventHealth North Pinellas Hospital
- Tampa General Hospital – closed two freestanding emergency care centers.
- BayCare Health Systems – closed urgent cares.
- As of Thursday, August 31, all long-term care facilities in Florida still have an operable generator on-site.
- The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) Water Assistance Tracking and Emergency Response (WATER) website tracks all water and wastewater facilities and reports whether they have been affected or not by a hazardous event – in this case Hurricane Idalia. As of Tuesday, August 29, a majority of the counties have been affected.
- On Wednesday, August 30, Governor Ron DeSantis noted that a majority of hospitals that evacuated will be operational within the next 24 hours.
- Georgia
- As of Thursday, August 31, South Georgia Medical Center announced that they are continuing emergency operations and all elective surgeries have been postponed. Urgent Care facilities, clinics, and outpatient services are closed as well.
- Inpatient care remains available at the Langdale Hospice House, Lakeland Villa facilities, Main, Smith Northview, Lanier, and Berrien Campuses.
- South Carolina
- As of Thursday, August 31, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) will be ending its expanded hours of the Care Line. It will be resuming normal operating hours starting on Friday, September 1.
- North Carolina
- As of Wednesday, August 30, Medicaid Direct and NC Medicaid Managed Care enrolled pharmacies were approved to override prior approval requirements during the state of emergency and will reimburse providers for medically necessary drugs and services, and equipment and supplies, provided during the Hurricane Idalia.
- As of Thursday, August 31, all nine of FirstHealth’s convenient care clinics opened at noon. Additionally, FirstHealth’s four emergency departments are open 24/7.
Supply Chain and Logistics Update
- Florida
- As of Thursday, August 31, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that all state bridges in the areas impacted by Hurricane Idalia have been cleared by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).
- This is critical in ensuring that first responders, medical professionals, and other response personnel are able to deploy to the impacted areas as quickly as possible.
- On Tuesday, August 29, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) reported that they have been conducting emergency inspections and tests on potentially contaminated Citgo fuel shipments to gas stations across Florida.
- As of Thursday, August 31, there are still 17 gas stations that remain under a “stop sale order” pending laboratory confirmation.
- Additionally, as of Wednesday, August 30, the FDACS, in conjunction with Florida’s ports and fuel industry partners, has been working to ensure that fuel supplies are available across Florida – with a priority on gas stations along major transportation lanes of impacted areas.
- As of Thursday, August 31, there seem to be no significant road closures in Florida. All real-time road closures can be found at Florida 511.
- Numerous emergency orders have been issued to waive restrictions and allow emergency vehicles to get to the affected areas easily.
- FDOT issued an emergency order to temporarily allow expanded weight and size requirements for vehicles transporting emergency and medical supplies and services.
- The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) issued an emergency order that waives specific requirements for commercial motor vehicles providing emergency relief.
- As of Thursday, August 31, the Port of Jacksonville is fully open and operational – including landside cargo operations.
- As of Wednesday, August 30, Port Tampa Bay currently has all shipping lanes closed.
- As of Wednesday, August 30, Tallahassee International Airport resumed operations as recovery efforts progress.
- As of Thursday, August 31, Tampa International Airport and Jacksonville International Airport have fully reopened and resumed operations.
- As of Thursday, August 31, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that all state bridges in the areas impacted by Hurricane Idalia have been cleared by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).
- Georgia
- As of Thursday, August 31, there are four incidents of debris blocking roadways – most likely due to Hurricane Idalia’s impacts.
- Cook county has two incidents (SR 7 SB at Old Coffee Rd and SR 76 EB/WB at Lonnie Grimsley Rd) with emergency personnel on the scene to clear it up.
- Thomas County (SR 33 NB/SB at Coffee Rd) and Lowndes County (SR 125 South before Davidson Rd) have one incident each with emergency personnel on the scene to clear it up.
- As of Thursday, August 31, Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport has fully reopened and resumed operations.
- As of Thursday, August 31, there are four incidents of debris blocking roadways – most likely due to Hurricane Idalia’s impacts.
- South Carolina
- As of Wednesday, August 31, the South Carolina Ports Authority noted that the Port of Charleston as well as inland Port Greer and inland Port Dillon will be open on Thursday.
- North Carolina
- As of August 31, the US Coast Guard has set Port Condition Zulu statuses (suspended all port operations) for both the Port of Wilmington and the Port of Morehead City due to the predicted impacts from Tropical Storm Idalia.
About Healthcare Ready
Healthcare Ready is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to ensure patient access to healthcare in times of disaster, emergency, and disease outbreaks. We leverage unique relationships with government, nonprofit and medical supply chains to build and enhance the resiliency of communities before, during and after disasters. Learn more about Healthcare Ready
To request the help of our Emergency Operations Center, contact us at alerts@healthcareready.org.
Sign up here.to receive email notifications from Healthcare Ready
