VOLUME 30, ISSUE 1

Texans will not soon forget the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey. Great storms and their effects on our citizens have a strong history in our state. Prior to technological advanced warning systems, the great storm of 1900 devastated Galveston Island. More recently, in 1995, Hurricane Ike caused devastation again in Galveston and the surrounding coastal areas. Even with advanced warning and previous experience, none could prepare for the devastation that would be brought to Texas by Hurricane Harvey.

On August 25th, 2017, Harvey made landfall near Rockport as a category four storm with 130 mph winds. The storm went on to stall over Southeast Texas and unload record amounts of rainfall (as much as 60 inches in some areas East of Houston) onto already water logged areas of the coast. The storm set a new record as it spent 117 hours over Texas as a named storm (over twice the previous record). As many as ninety confirmed deaths and nearly $200 billion in damages were attributed to the disastrous storm. It is the costliest natural disaster in US history.

TSA members in the affected areas showed great resilience in maintaining care for their patients, despite devastating conditions that some were dealing with personally. Many of our members lost their homes, cars and other valuable possessions. Despite this, we have heard many incredible stories from colleagues along the coast who overcame adversity and continued to provide much needed medical care for our Texas citizens, even as the storm raged on. Many hospitals, including several in Houston’s Texas Medical Center, were flooded and those in house for call responsibilities, had no choice but to stay and work because they had no way out. The response at UT Houston affiliated hospitals and others revealed enormous efforts by our anesthesiology colleagues who worked, in some cases, over 60 hours straight helping to take care of patients who required emergency care during the storm. Other members of the team did their best to weather the storm to get to the hospitals to provide relief for those colleagues who had been sheltered in place. Relief for the tired work force arrived to the hospitals in the most interesting of ways, as so many roadways were flooded. Some came by foot, some by bicycle, and others got a ride on a fire truck to traverse the flood waters. Often, those who were providing medical care were also victims themselves of the storm.

Of all of our TSA membership, our residents in training can often be the most vulnerable due to lack of resources to adequately recover from such a devastating loss. Many sustained extensive flood damage to their homes and cars. The TSA Board of Directors and the House of Delegates deliberated extensively at our annual meeting on how to best assist those of our membership who were affected by the storm. Following much discussion, it was determined that an ad-hoc committee would work closely with the well-established Anesthesia Foundation to provide financial assistance for affected anesthesiology residents. TSA members were directed to donate funds to the Foundation which could then be directed to those residents in the most need. While the Anesthesia Foundation typically provides low interest loans, through the generosity of the TSA membership and the Anesthesia Foundation, affected residents were able to receive grants to help sustain them and their families through the recovery (for additional information on the Anesthesia Foundation and its role in the response to Hurricane Harvey, please see the accompanying article).

In summary, we wish to recognize those in our membership who weathered this difficult storm and continued to provide care for the citizens of Texas that we serve. Those affected by Hurricane Harvey are all in our thoughts as we wish them a speedy recovery.