Even as Hurricane Laura bore down on a hospital in Lake Charles, Louisiana, someone had to watch the babies.
Winds howled, water leaked through windows and the generators kicked on at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. Despite it all, the NICU staff kept all 19 of its babies safe through the Category 4 storm.
“It’s important to know the dedication of all the nurses and the respiratory therapists to keep taking care of the babies when they don’t even know the condition of their homes,” Dr. Juan Bossano told CNN on Thursday. “In a small town like this, people have to pull together. I’m proud of them.”
The residents of Lake Charles knew the hurricane was headed for their city, with mandatory evacuation order in place. The city got some of the worst of the storm, with an hour of 120-135 mph wind gusts as the eyewall crossed, according to the National Weather Service.
Bossano and a team of 14 nurses, 2 neonatal nurse practitioners and 3 respiratory therapists hunkered down in the NICU all night, he said. Two teams took shifts caring for the little angels, the staff trying to get some sleep when they could.
The staff had their hands full, said Bossano, who has been a neonatologist for more than 30 years.
Some of the babies were on respirators and ventilators, some as small as one or two pounds, Bossano said. Some of them were born premature at just 23 weeks.
There was no air conditioning and in the middle of the night, the water went out in the hospital.