Live broadcast news reports broke the news after 11 PM eastern time on Monday, Oct. 29, that staff at NYU Langone Medical Center were evacuating patients to other hospitals, after power had failed across most of lower Manhattan, where the hospital is located. This activity came in the wake of Hurricane Sandy--renamed a post-tropical cyclone by mid-evening Monday--crashing into the east coast of the United States, causing massive flooding, power outages, and property damage, and leading to a small number of reported deaths in different states. Among other developments that might have been related to the power outage, earlier in the evening, a nearby Consolidated Edison power station suffered an explosion, and a massive storm surge flooded large parts of lower Manhattan. Reporters on the MSNBC network reported that they had spoken with NYU officials as patients were being evacuated in nearly virtual darkness.
Reporters said that NYU Langone Medical Center leaders were forced to evacuate patients after the hospital's backup generator failed. The hospital's website was not accessible, but reporters for the major news networks confirmed a statement by hospital officials reporting the action. Healthcare Informatics will bring readers additional reports as developments evolve forward.
