I’m having déjà vu with all this news coverage of the #Texas energy grid failure. I experienced what I thought were near-End-Times sort of stuff in #Houston during Katrina & Rita, BOTH of which fell during my month on nights in the ER in Sept 2005.

Even though I was in Houston, we got all the Katrina transfers from New Orleans since we were the largest nearby trauma center.

I remember being dumbstruck by the devastation I saw happening in Nola on tv—

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—and then it became very real as we received a bus full of carbon monoxide poisonings and shuttle after shuttle of patients.

Wildest thing I remember from Katrina: hearing all the pets in the ER. Thankfully patients brought their pooches with them!

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An ER nurse I passed in the hallway must have had 10 dogs tethered to her as she tried to do her job!

But aside from orient volume, Katrina didn’t impact those of us in Texas nearly as much as Hurricane Rita, which happened only a few weeks later.

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Local Texas storm deniers (who typically refused to evacuate) took Hurricane Rita, which was headed straight for America’s 4th largest city—seriously.

All lanes of the interstates were reversed, and everyone in a city of 4 million people was headed the same direction: OUT

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Only problem? People got stuck in a massive traffic jam for 18 hrs, and everyone ran out of gas. A friend of mine made it a few blocks in 12 hrs. Nightmare of epic proportions. No food or facilities.

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Everyone was headed OUT except me & the other folks assigned for duty at the hospital.

We were headed TOWARD the storm.

I was told to pack enough food/clothes for a WEEK at the hospital

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You learn how little “stuff” really matters when you have 5 min to pack and aren’t sure if your home will be in the same condition in which you left it when you get back. I grabbed my guitar, my birth certificate & some sentimental jewelry and headed TOWARD the storm

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Parked my car at the top of the parking structure in anticipation of catastrophic flooding

Slept on the floor of the reading room with my attendings

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I remember few proper meals and lots of trips to the vending machine for nourishment (part of being a resident physician anyway )

Returned home after DAYS to no power and near 100% closure of local businesses

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Finally, a nearby pizza place (RIP, Flying Pig Pizza!) reopened. The whole neighborhood got wind of it 2-hour wait, and the beer was warm. But nobody cared. Everyone was ecstatic to wait in line. Everyone was ecstatic to have electricity.

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At some point in this narrative, the Hurricane swerved at the last last minute toward Beaumont, Texas.

But the disruption in terms of stress, lack of power, flooding, more stress, etc was still felt acutely in Houston.

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As scared & stressed & miserable as I was, what is happening in Texas right now looks FAR worse. The freezing temperatures. The loss of human & animal lives. The duration of the stress. The compounding of this stress with stress associated with a global pandemic.

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Climate change is real. Thrilled to see that @BillGates is tackling this issue per @60Minutes and that President Biden has made this a priority.

We have a limited time for intervention, and that window is rapidly closing.

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If we want to avoid climate crises like the one Texas is facing (and, sadly, denying) we must act now.

Aside from COVID19, climate change may be the most pressing matter we face.

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As #EarthDay approaches, we must consider how we will do our part for the environment, whether it’s

going vegan ( hi)

using clean energy

conserving resources, etc.

But do something. And make haste.

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