THREAD: As someone who has an educational background in meteorology and emergency management, this event is eye opening. Let me explain. #wxtwitter #climatetwitter #EMGTwitter 1/ https://twitter.com/norwoodhospital/status/1277454249002242049

First of all, I commend the staff of @NorwoodHospital and area first responders for their large scale evacuation - a perfect example of how mutual aid agreements are carried out. 2/

It’s shocking how a 90 minute intense rainfall could literally shutdown a hospital indefinitely. Let that soak in. 3/

5 Days at Memorial was about a hospital in NOLA that was flooded during Katrina. In that case, with what happened, you’d expect it. Hospital staff and first responders train for these scenarios. 4/

From my house in Norwood my drive to Norwood hospital is 5 minutes....now the drive time to the nearest ED has tripled/quadrupled. (Yes - ambulances will be traveling “hot” (lights/sirens) but it doesn’t save as much time as you might think.) 5/

This could have been worse. Way worse. How? According to @MassDPH there was only 1 #Covid_19 case being treated at the hospital. 6/

Houston ICUs, for example,(depending on reports) are between 70-92% capacity. Cases are climbing. Our cases are declining. 7/

Dozens of patients from Norwood had to be transferred to area hospitals. 8/

You see, I’ve always said #climatechange is a threat multiplier. In itself it’s a crisis, but it magnifies other crises. We need to be prepared for a long hurricane season along the coasts and fire season out west. 9/

Heavy rain events are increasing in intensity and frequency and this weekend’s flood event in Norwood is a good reminder of just how vulnerable we are. 10/

A few minutes extra drive time to a restaurant, movie theatre isn’t much...but when it’s added to the travel time to an Emergency Department, it can mean the difference of life/death. 11/