Florida hospitals reopen after hurricanes as plans proved largely effective | Hurricane Milton

Hospitals across Florida are resuming operations after evacuating patients, closing facilities and canceling surgeries ahead of Hurricane Milton.

The Category 3 hurricane made landfall near Sarasota, Florida, on Wednesday evening and was expected to be one of the strongest in Florida history. At least 10 storm-related deaths have been reported and the death toll is still expected to rise.

But even amid widespread destruction from storm surges, tornadoes, gale-force winds and torrential rains, authorities said the worst-case scenario was averted because the storm weakened as it arrived.

“Preparing for Hurricane Milton was an incredible effort by the entire team and a true test of our resources,” John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, said in a statement. Tampa General is the region's only high-level trauma center. It remained open during the storm.

“But it ensured that we could continue to provide exceptional care to our patients in a high-quality, safe and uninterrupted environment before, during and after the storm,” Couris said.

Milton exploded into a Category 5 hurricane earlier this week, with a track expected to stretch across the Florida Peninsula from Tampa Bay in the west to the beaches of Volusia County in the east.

Milton arrived less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene was the worst storm to hit Tampa Bay in a century. With predictions that Milton could be the “storm of the century,” Floridians stepped up and prepared with a sense of urgency unusual among the state's weather-beaten residents. Millions of Floridians were evacuated ahead of the storm, fleeing along highways I-75 and I-4.

Health facilities in the storm's path also made urgent preparations. Officials in Florida said 212 health care facilities were evacuated ahead of the storm, including 10 hospitals, two emergency rooms, 115 assisted living facilities and 50 nursing homes, among others.

Tampa General built its “aquafence,” an impermeable barrier surrounding its main campus on the Davis Islands near Tampa Bay, and withstood the storm. The hospital also had five days' worth of food, water, linens and other supplies.

Still, branch offices of the hospital system remained closed after the storm. An emergency room at Tampa General Hospital in Tampa and another in Brandon are expected to reopen Thursday evening. The system is expected to resume normal operations on Friday.

AdventHealth, another chain that operates hospitals in the Tampa Bay area, said there were only “minor water leaks” at all facilities and that all but one in northern Pinellas County remained open. This Tarpon Springs facility was evacuated ahead of the storm.

HCA Healthcare, a for-profit company that owns dozens of hospitals across Florida, said it evacuated more than 400 patients from evacuation zones to affiliates across the state.

Another 235 patients were evacuated from an HCA site in Largo, Florida, after a nearby lake flooded into the facility's basement, knocking out power to part of the hospital. Other HCA locations around Tampa Bay – in Pasadena, Largo, Englewood and Tampa – all remain closed. HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte reopened Thursday.

In Sarasota, near where the hurricane made landfall, two hospitals remained open during the storm, caring for more than 1,000 patients. However, urgent care centers and outpatient facilities across the region are still under review.

As a result of the storm, more than three million people lost power and authorities urged residents to stay in their homes as many roads are still blocked by debris and flooding. The storm dumped 18 inches of rain on St. Petersburg.