Houston: Millions of people without electricity and hospitals overwhelmed after Beryl and the arrival of the heat wave
Doctors deem it to be a risk to discharge some people to send them home without air conditioning due to power failures.
Bags of food are handed out at a water and food distribution center in Houston
Several states continue to be battered by the heat wave. In the case of Houston, where more than a million customers are without electricity, the health system was affected because some patients could not be discharged due to the heat.
After the passage of Hurricane Beryl through the state, authorities began to move patients to a temporary field hospital in a large sports complex in Houston. This is because many doctors have deemed it to be a risk to discharge some people in the middle of the heat wave and send them home without air conditioning because of power failures.
"The lack of electricity has strained the health care system in the nation’s fourth-largest city. Doctors had determined that it was not safe to discharge some patients to homes without air-conditioning, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said at a news conference, leading to 'backed up' hospitals and three-hour wait times for ambulances to drop off patients," explained The New York Times.
Meanwhile, at least 130 million people remain under heat wave alert, mostly in the western part of the country.
"Dangerous heat remains in the West for the rest of the week," the National Weather Service (NWS) reported in statements picked up by AFP.
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