Photo: Leah Upton. Hospital Staff shelter in place as Hurricane Laura swept through. Audio: Listen Here.
"Even as Hurricane Laura bore down on a hospital in Lake Charles, La., someone had to watch the babies," reports CNN. "Winds howled, water leaked through windows and the generators kicked on at the local hospital. Despite it all, the NICU [Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit] staff kept all 19 of its babies safe through the Category 4 storm." The city received about the worst of the storm, "with an hour of 120-135 mph wind gusts as the eyewall crossed" and a mandatory evacuation in place. Some of the babies were born premature at just 23 weeks. Others were on respirators and ventilators. A few were as small as one or two pounds. There was no air conditioning, and the hospital water went out in the middle of the night. "It was scary for everyone," said Alesha Alford, vice president and administrator for Lake Charles Memorial Hospital for Women. "When the winds got so bad, we had to move our patients into the hallways. Staff were sleeping in the hallways with patients." Dr. Juan Bossano, who had worked in the NICU all night, said, "In a small town like this, people have to pull together. I'm proud of them."
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