Hurricane Harvey battered the east coast of Texas Friday evening as a Category 4 storm, creating storm surges and flooding comparable to Hurricane Katrina, in which 1,836 people were killed in 2005.
The unprecedented flooding in cities like Houston after Hurricane Harvey made landfall pushed area health facilities to institute precautionary measures, including evacuations, to protect patients and staff from the storm. The National Weather Service said Sunday some areas may experience up to 50 inches of rain by the end of the week, USA Today reports.
Here are six developments in the aftermath of the storm.
1. Houston-based Ben Taub Hospital, which spent billions on flood protections after being affected by Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, issued an evacuation call Sunday. However, a spokesperson for the hospital said the procedure still hadn't begun hours after declaring the evacuation because the facility "was surrounded by water and rescuers could not reach its 350 patients," The New York Times reports.
2. Victoria, Texas-based Citizens Medical Center was forced to rely on a backup generator for power after the storm knocked out its electricity, according to NYT. Several hospitals in the city reportedly lost power, forcing more than 400 patients to be transported to nearby hospitals in San Antonio and elsewhere, KTSA News reports.
3. Rescuers saved roughly two dozen residents from La Vita Bella, a state licensed assisted living facility in Dickinson, Texas. A photograph that went viral on Twitter depicted residents in wheelchairs sitting in water up to their waists. Officials told NYT all the residents survived.
4. Several hospitals, including Texas Children's Hospital and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, both in Houston, deployed their flood gates to prevent water from entering the buildings' basements, according to the Houston Chronicle.
5. Houston-based Bayshore Medical Center also evacuated 196 patients to area hospitals. Officials reportedly made the decision to suspend all services because of the rising flood waters, according to ABC News.
6. New Orleans-based The Blood Center and other organizations have urged people to donate blood to help residents in Houston and other coastal cities affected by Hurricane Harvey, WWL-4 News reports.
Editor's note: This is an ongoing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.