Healthcare Ready is ENGAGED for the Midwest Tornadoes
Sunday, December 12: This report includes an assessment of the potential impacts to healthcare and public health due to the tornadoes that hit Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, and Tennessee over the weekend.
High-Level Situation Summary
At least thirty tornadoes impacted several states over the weekend including Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, and Tennessee. All impacted states reported fatalities, and officials expect the death toll will likely rise as search and rescue efforts and damage assessments continue.
To help Kentucky with ongoing search and rescue, Governor Gavin Newsom through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) approved the deployment of California-based Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Resources that are a part of the National/FEMA US&R Incident Support Team (IST).
FEMA is supporting response needs, with two Incident Management Assistance Teams deploying to Kentucky to support federal coordination efforts.
As of Sunday, response efforts remain in “life-saving and life-sustaining mode”. It is expected that the next 2-3 days will remain focused on search and rescue efforts and finding those who may be trapped beneath fallen buildings or debris.
Expected Impacts
Power outages
As of December 12, Kentucky is the third top outage area in the United States with close to 54,000 customers without power. West Kentucky RECC is reporting 30,000 customers out while Kentucky Utilities is reporting just over 10,000 customers out. Most of the outages are in the western part of the state.
Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois are reporting under 10,000 customers without power in their states as of December 12. With Arkansas reporting 9,424 customers without power; Missouri reporting 3,791 customers without power; and Illinois reporting 2,048 customers without power.
As of December 11, there are road closures in the following areas in Kentucky:
Hickman County
KY 307 is closed from the 5.765 milepost to the 7.613 milepost because of low hanging power lines.
Lyons County
Woodland Trace is blocked near the entrance to Hillman Ferry Campground, just south of where it connects with KY 453/Dover Road at the Canal Bridge near the Livingston-Lyon Line south of Grand Rivers.
Marshall County
Moors Camp Highway leading into the Moors and Cambridge Shores area as well as Dusty Trail from Big Bear will not be accessible to anyone other than emergency responders.
Mayfield Police is requesting non-essential personnel to stay off the roadways in the downtown Mayfield area, due to hazards, structure, and other safety concerns.
Traffic on I-69 between Benton and Mayfield is being rerouted by the Marshall County Maintenance Crew. KY 58/Mayfield Highway cannot be used as a detour because there are several trees down.
I-69 southbound traffic is being routed along US 641 South toward Murray, KY.
In Illinois, there are road closures in the following areas:
Coles County
IL-121 is closed at 200 East in Mattoon due to tornado damage to the powerlines.
Madison County
IL-255 from Chain of Rocks Road to Sand Rd due to tornado damage.
Emergency Declarations
Kentucky:
On December 11, President Biden issued an emergency declaration in Kentucky authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
On December 11, 2021, Governor Beshear declared a state of emergency for Kentucky. The Governor also activated the Kentucky National Guard and the Kentucky State Police.
A state of emergency due to nursing shortages was also recently declared in Kentucky. The state is running 12-20% short in its nursing staff in part due to burn-out among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arkansas:
On December 11, 2021, Governor Hutchinson declared a state of emergency in Arkansas.
Illinois:
Governor Pritzker activated the Illinois State Emergency Operations Center in response to the severe weather. State agencies that are offering assistance include Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Transportation, and Ilinois Department of Public Health.
The Red Cross has set up shelters at the following locations:
First Methodist Church in Hickman, KY
Wingo Old Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Wingo, KY
The Way Center in Wingo, KY
Knights of Columbus Hall in Fancy Farm, KY
Lone Oak First Baptist Church in Paducah, KY
Additional shelter locations include:
Lyon County Convention Center
Washington Street Warming Center in Paducah, KY
Bardwell Baptist Church is open as a shelter
The CFSB Center at Murray State University is serving as a 24-hour shelter. Masks will be required.
Tennessee:
The following shelters have been set up by the American Red Cross and are currently open:
Reelfoot Youth Camp in Hornbeak
First Baptist Church of Kenton in Kenton
Hendersonville Church of Christ in Hendersonville
Communications
According to FEMA, there have been no widespread reports of communication outages, but there have been some reported local outages.
There were no reported impacts to 911 services across affected areas.
Water
Kentucky:
A water tower in Mayfield was hit and leaving the town without water.
Louisville's mayor announced a water drive taking place at the KFC YUM! Center today from 11am-2pm. Cases of water are preferred over individual bottles.
The North Marshall Water District and Benton Water & Sewer reported damages and other issues caused by the severe weather. All Benton Water & Sewer customers were under a boil water order as of Saturday, December 11 and will remain in place until further notice.
Health facilities in areas experiencing water shortages due to any damage to nearby water towers may be in need of water in addition to water storage capabilities.
As of Saturday, December 11, at least two hospitals in Kentucky were without power. Additionally, at least one hospital was operating without phone service or internet.
Pharmacy Operations
Pharmacy Status was updated in Rx Open for Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, and Tennessee at 2:00pm ET on December 12. The next update is scheduled for Monday, December 13 at 2:00pm ET.
Rx Open is reporting 7 closures in the impacted states of Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
Kentucky is reporting 4 closures
Tennessee is reporting 3 closures
COVID-19 Status
The increasing surge of COVID-19 infections will likely impact sheltering and hospital capacity in all affected areas. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for COVID-19 transmission prevention are recommended, including physical distancing and wearing a mask. Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee do not have a state-wide imposed mask mandate in place. In Illinois, masks are required in indoor public settings for people over the age of 2, regardless of vaccination status.
Updated COVID-19 data is expected to be reported by states on Monday, December 13.
Arkansas
1,093 positive cases were reported as of December 10. Approximately 49.1% of the population is fully vaccinated. 475 persons are currently hospitalized due to COVID and 108 are on ventilators.
Kentucky
The current overall incidence rate 45.76 per 100,000 as of December 10. Hospitals state-wide have reached 73.3% occupancy for inpatient beds and 88.7% for ICU beds. 54% of the population is fully vaccinated. In Graves County, where Mayfield is located, the vaccination rate is 47.44%.
Illinois
The current incident rate is 56.0 per 100,000. 73% of all ICU beds are occupied, of which 20% are COVID-19 patients. 70.6% of the population has received at least one vaccination dose and 63.0% are fully vaccinated.
Missouri
The incident rate is 223 per 100,000. As of December 9, there are 1,866 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, of which 420 are in the ICU and 226 on ventilators. 76% of all inpatient and 85% of all ICU beds are occupied. 52.4% of the population is fully vaccinated.
Tennessee
As of December 11, there were 1,024 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 283 people in the ICU, and 142 people on ventilation.50.3% of the population is fully vaccinated.
Kentucky:State law allows for pharmacists to fill a 72-hour refill in an emergency.
Arkansas: State law allows for emergency refills of medication as long as the medication is “essential to the maintenance of life or to the continuation of therapy”.
Evacuations and Curfews
Kentucky
In Graves County, a curfew has been ordered in all areas within the city limits of Mayfield, and all areas in the county that have been affected by the tornadoes track. The curfew remains until lifted and is in effect from dusk to dawn
Tennessee
The city of Dresden implemented a curfew from dusk until dawn for the city limits.
Arkansas
The city of Leachville implemented a curfew, starting December 11, from sunrise to sunset.
The city of Trumann’s curfew will remain in place from 6am to 6pm until further notice. Only emergency personnel will be allowed on the streets during these times.
Missouri
The city of Caruthersville will remain under curfew from 7pm to 6am until further notice.
Points of Distribution Sites
Kentucky
The Mayfield food preparation and distribution center will provide free meals at the Plaza Parking at 1104 Paris Road in Mayfield starting at 8pm Sunday, December 12.
They are accepting food donations, as well as refrigerated items for and from restaurants. They're also accepting paper plates, paper towels, bottled water and plastic-ware. Organizers say they need help from anyone with food truck or mobile cooking abilities.
Mercy Chefs from Waverly, TN, will be serving warm meals for families and first responders Monday, December 13 night from 4 -6 pm. This will be at His House Ministries in Mayfield.
Bardwell Baptist Church is open as a shelter. Pastor Jason Burnett says people can stay the night, and food and showers are available.
Marcella's Kitchen is feeding first responders Sunday, December 12 and will be open for regular meals on Monday, December 13. It is located at 868 Guy Mathis Drive, Benton, KY.
Other Actions
If you become aware of situation(s) that may adversely affect healthcare supply or care in the affected area, or if you would like to request the assistance of Healthcare Ready, please contact us at Alerts@HealthcareReady.org or call 1.866.247.2694.
We are standing by, ready to assist those in the impacted areas. For those of you in the affected areas, our thoughts are with you.
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