Houston hospitals report spike in heat-related illness during widespread storm power outages
Medical officials in Houston say widespread power outages caused by Hurricane Beryl have flooded area hospitals with patients seeking treatment for heat-related illnesses and carbon monoxide poisoning due to using home generators improperly
HOUSTON — Widespread power outages caused by Hurricane Beryl have sent a wave of patients to Houston-area hospitals for treatment of heat-related illnesses and carbon monoxide poisoning due to using home generators improperly, medical officials said Friday.
Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses have been without power since Beryl swept ashore Monday as a Category 1 hurricane. Although outages peaked at 2.7 million customers and the Houston area's main utility, CenterPoint Energy, said it had restored power to about 1.4 million by Friday morning, up to half a million others were expected to be without electricity into next week, with temperatures hovering around 90 degrees (32.2 Celsius) or higher.
Houston-area hospitals have reported about twice the number of emergency room patients as they typically would. More than 320 patients suffered from heat-related illnesses, about triple the norm at this time of year, according to the Houston Office of Emergency Management.
Dr. Ben Saldana, who oversees the 18 emergency rooms in the Houston Methodist hospital system, said his ERs are treating their highest numbers of patients since the widespread power outages during a 2021 freeze, with heat exhaustion and heat-related problems the biggest reasons.
“These range from cramps to heat stroke with (body) temperatures at 104 degrees (40 degrees Celsius),” Saldana said.
The heat also exacerbates chronic problems for people with lung, heart and kidney disease, he said. Kidney patients are
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